UCSF researchers have discovered a molecular pathway with a primary role in the growth of blood vessels. This may potentially lead to new advancements in vascular studies, and suggests a "potential target" for inhibiting the blood vessels responsible for several cancers, diabetic eye complications and atherosclerosis.
In the current study, the UCSF team determined that two well known signaling molecules, birc2 and TNF, are crucial to the survival of endothelial cells -- which line the blood vessels and maintain the integrity of the blood vessel wall during vascular development -- in zebrafish embryos.
"The pathway these molecules make up during vascular development has not been looked at before,” says Stainier. “It offers a new target for therapeutic strategies."
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