Mechanisms of Physiological Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis is the formation of blood vessels from a pre-existing vasculature to provide optimal tissue perfusion. In the adult organism, angiogenesis is also required for its growth and regeneration. Angiogenesis is of great practical importance in terms of its therapeutic regulation: its enhancement can contribute to significant progress in the treatment of ischemic diseases, while its inhibition is promising for the treatment of neoplastic diseases. There are two main types of angiogenesis: endothelial sprouting into the extracellular matrix to form a new vessel toward pro-angiogenic signaling, and intussusceptive angiogenesis whereby a new vessel is created by splitting of an existing vessel in two due to formation of a partition that separates two independent lumens. In this review, we address the main stages of each type of physiological angiogenesis, their mechanisms and regulation.