Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference

Coronary vessel formation in development and disease: mechanisms and insights for therapy

The formation of new blood vessels after myocardial infarction (MI) is essential for the survival of existing and regenerated cardiac tissue. However, the extent of endogenous revascularization after MI is insufficient, and MI can often result in ventricular remodelling, progression to heart failure and premature death. The neutral results of numerous clinical trials that have evaluated the efficacy of angiogenic therapy to revascularize the infarcted heart reflect our poor understanding of the processes required to form a functional coronary vasculature. In this Review, we describe the latest advances in our understanding of the processes involved in coronary vessel formation, with mechanistic insights taken from developmental studies. Coronary vessels originate from multiple cellular sources during development and form through a number of distinct and carefully orchestrated processes. The ectopic reactivation of developmental programmes has been proposed as a new paradigm for regenerative medicine, therefore, a complete understanding of these processes is crucial. Furthermore, knowledge of how these processes differ between the embryonic and adult heart, and how they might be more closely recapitulated after injury are critical for our understanding of regenerative biology, and might facilitate the identification of tractable molecular targets to therapeutically promote neovascularization and regeneration of the infarcted heart

Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays.

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference