The creation of new blood vessels from existing ones, which is a mechanism called "angiogenesis", is essential in cancer to supply cancerous growth. Moreover, the development and the progression of the tumor and its metastases are the result of an efficient vascular response. Cancer cells release and activate different angiogenic growth factors and their receptors in the tumor microenvironment ...

Human endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) represent a promising source of adult stem cells for vascular repair, yet their regenerative capacity is limited. Here, we set out to understand the molecular mechanism restricting the repair function of ECFCs. We found that key pro-angiogenic pathways are repressed in ECFCs due to the presence of bivalent (H3K27me3/H3K4me3) epigenetic marks, which...

BACKGROUND Endostatin and anastellin, fragments of collagen type XVIII and fibronectin, respectively, belong to a family of endogenous inhibitors of angiogenesis which inhibit tumor growth and metastasis in a number of mouse models of human cancer. The mechanism of action of these inhibitors is not well understood, but they have great potential usefulness as non-toxic long-term therapy for canc...

Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) (E.C. 2.4.2.4), also known as platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor, is a potent angiogenic factor. The expression of TP correlates with poor prognosis in a range of tumor types. 2-Deoxy-D-ribose-1-phosphate, a product of thymidine catabolism by TP, is a strongly reducing sugar that generates oxygen radical species during the early stages of protein glycat...

Angiogenesis, a process characterized by the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, is a crucial step in tumor growth and dissemination. Recently, increased attention has been addressed to the ability of flavonoids to prevent cancer by suppressing angiogenesis, strategy that we named "angioprevention". Several natural compounds exert their anti-tumor properties by activating 5' ...

The role of the vascular endothelium in progressive renal disease is not well understood. This review presents evidence that progressive renal disease is characterized by a progressive loss of the microvasculature. The loss of the microvasculature correlates directly with the development of glomerular and tubulointerstitial scarring. The mechanism is mediated in part by a reduction in the endot...

Diffuse invasion of the surrounding brain parenchyma is a major obstacle in the treatment of gliomas with various therapeutics, including anti-angiogenic agents. Here we identify the epi-/genetic and microenvironmental downregulation of ephrinB2 as a crucial step that promotes tumour invasion by abrogation of repulsive signals. We demonstrate that ephrinB2 is downregulated in human gliomas as a...

Angiogenesis is implicated in diverse pathological conditions such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, atherosclerosis, and retinal neovascularization. In the present study, we investigated the effects of modified rice bran hemicellulose (MRBH), a water-soluble hemicellulose preparation from rice bran treated with shiitake enzymes, on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced an...

Siegesbeckia glabrescens (SG) Makino (Compositae) has been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of allergic and inflammatory diseases. In the present study, we report the effects and molecular mechanism of an ethanolic extract of SG on cell proliferation, migration and tube formation in vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A)-treated human umbilical vein endothelial cells. SG ...

Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) (E.C. 2.4.2.4), also known as plateletderived endothelial cell growth factor, is a potent angiogenic factor. The expression of TP correlates with poor prognosis in a range of tumor types. 2-Deoxy-D-ribose-1-phosphate, a product of thymidine catabolism by TP, is a strongly reducing sugar that generates oxygen radical species during the early stages of protein glycati...