Spotlight on mechanisms of vascular inflammation

Understanding the complexity of the inflammatory response is of critical importance in the search for effective therapies for common vascular chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. This spotlight issue is devoted to reviewing knowledge accumulated over the past few years on the molecular and cellular mechanisms operating in vascular inflammation. Throughout the issue there is also a discussion of current animal models of inflammatory vascular diseases in terms of their similarities and differences in comparison with human conditions. A general overview of the molecular and cellular actors involved in the inflammatory response is provided by Barreiro et al.1 The analysis begins at the molecular level, describing the soluble factors and the adhesion and chemotactic receptors that orchestrate the various steps of leucocyte recruitment during inflammation. The cellular structures that are required to mediate the contact between leucocytes and endothelial cells during extravasation2 are also reviewed. Finally, Barreiro et al. discuss the guidance of different leucocyte subsets (Th1, Th2, Th17, Treg, cDC, pDC, Gr1+ inflammatory monocytes, etc.) to specific inflammatory scenarios and the potential of therapeutic strategies based on the blockade of leucocyte guidance.