Portuguese scientists discover new mechanism for forming blood
vessels
18 November 2008
Researchers in one of the external groups of the Instituto Gulbenkian
de Ciência (IGC), in Portugal, have discovered a novel mechanism that
regulates the formation of new blood vessels.
This has implications for wound healing including chronic wounds,
such as those found in diabetic patients and those suffering from morbid
obesity. These findings,which are to appear in the new issue of the
journal PLoSOne, could lead the way to the development of new
therapeutic approaches to healing damaged blood vessels and building new
ones.
Working at the Centro de Investigação e Patobiologia Molecular of the
Portuguese Institute of Oncology Francisco Gentil, in Lisbon, the team
showed that the cells that make new blood vessels (called endothelial
cells) are stimulated by an intracellular signalling pathway, mediated
by the protein Notch.
The formation of new blood vessels is a crucial step in wound healing:
the newly-formed vessels allow anti-inflammatory proteins to reach the
wound site, improve oxygenation of the damaged tissue and carry
essential nutrients for the re-structuring of the tissue, that is, the
skin.
According to Francisco Caiado, a PhD student at the IGC, and first
author of this study, “We knew that the endothelial cells are stimulated
by cells originating in the bone-marrow, the so-called bone-marrow
derived precursor cells. We have now shown that the actual stimulus
happens through the Notch protein, found on the bone-marrow derived
cells. Upon activation, Notch promotes the adhesion of the precursor
cells to the site of the lesion, where they stimulate the endothelial
cells to make new blood vessels”.
Chronic skin wounds are an increasing medical problem, since they are
commonly found in diabetic patients and in those suffering from morbid
obesity. Diabetic patients may develop “diabetic foot”, a condition
whereby wounds do not heal leading, in the most severe cases, to
amputation.
Francisco Caiado, Carla Real, Tânia Carvalho and Sérgio Dias.
Notch pathway modulation on bone marrow-derived vascular precursor cells
regulates their angiogenic and wound healing potential. PLoS ONE,
2008.
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