Angiogenesis Flashcards
what are the physiological reasons for angiogenesis?
embryonic development
wound healing
menstrual cycle
how can angiogenesis turn out to be in pathology?
o Insufficient – e.g. baldness, MI.
o Involved in vascular malformations – e.g. Angiodysplasia (HHT & VWD).
o Excessive – e.g. Retinal disease, cancers, atherosclerosis.
what are the methods of creating new blood vessels and describe their action?
- vasculogenesis= use of bone marrow progenitor cells
- arteriogenesis= collateral growths to accommodate occlusions
- angiogenesis= sprouting dependent on endothelial cells
what is the outline of sprouting angiogenesis?
- Selection of sprouting ECs (tip cells and stalk cells)
- Sprout outgrowth and guidance.
- Sprout fusion and lumen formation.
- Perfusion and maturation.
name the initial trigger of angiogenesis
hypoxia
name the regulator of gene expression to promote angiogenesis
Hypoxia-Inducible Transcription Factor (HIF)
leads to the expression of Hypoxia inducible Genes e.g. VEGF
what controls the levels of HIF?
protein Von Hippel-Lindau
- tumour suppressor gene (pVHL)
what happens with pVHL and HIF in the absence of oxygen
1) in hypoxia pVHL does not bind to HIF
2) HIF alpha and HIF beta associated to create a transcription factor
3) allows HIF TF to translocate to the nucleus and bind to the HIF-region
this induces the translation of hypoxic factors e.g. VEGF that enable angiogenesis
what happens with pVHL and HIF in the presence of oxygen?
hypoxic trigger removed
1) so pVHL adds a hydroxyproline group to HIF (ubiquination)
2) HIF is degraded by a proteasome
no angiogenesis
pVHL is anti-angiogenesis
what does VEGF stand for?
vascular endothelial growth factor
what are the 5 members of the VEGF family?
VEGF-A/B/C/D and Placental GF (PlGF)
what are the 3 receptors VEGF can bind to? what are the co-receptors they need?
VEGFR-1/2/3
these require the co-receptors Nrp1 and 2
which of the VEGF receptor is the main mediator of VEGF-dependant angiogenesis?
VEGFR-2
is the major mediator of VEGF-dependant angiogenesis.
what is the first step of angiogenesis?
the selection of the endothelial tip cell occurs which lead the outgrowth of vessels towards gradients of VEGF
how is the tip cell selected?
the cell that receives the highest concentration of VEGF becomes the tip cell
by Canonical Notch Signalling between adjacent endothelial cells
which cell would have the notch receptor?
the stalk cell (support cell)
adjacent to the tip cell with the delta/jagged ligand
what happens to the notch receptor once it binds to the jagged ligand of the tip cell?
the intracellular domain of Notch called NICD translocates to the nucleus and binds to the TF RBP-J
how is quiescence in the endothelial layer maintained when tip selection occurs?
stable state: the cells signal with DII4 and Notch to each other when VEGF comes to bind
when does the induction sprouting occur?
in unstable state: VEGF activation increases the expression of DII4 (on tip cell)
this drives Notch signalling in the adjacent cell
when the tip cell has been selected and starts to produce more DII4 (notch ligand) , what effect does this have?
this drives Notch signalling in the adjacent cell so it will reduce the expression of VEGFR-2 on the adjacent cell so VEGF can’t bind to it
the adjacent cells has now been given its role of stalk cell