image: Angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) guides blood vessel formation, or angiogenesis, by promoting the secretion of a protein called fibronectin, which helps retinal blood vessels grow. This scheme depicts exactly how Ang1 enhances guided angiogenesis in the retina. Ang1 binds to and activates Tie2-expressing sprouting endothelial cells for further angiogenesis, while also binding to αvβ5 integrin, phosphorylating focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in adjacent retinal astrocytes, and up-regulating the expression of fibronectin, which provides a scaffold for guiding directional angiogenesis in the retina. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the Sept. 18, 2013, issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by J. Lee at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, Korea, and colleagues was titled, "Angiopoietin-1 Guides Directional Angiogenesis Through Integrin αvβ5 Signaling for Recovery of Ischemic Retinopathy." view more
Credit: [Image courtesy of Junyeop Lee, Gou Young Koh, Ook-Joon Yoo, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)]