Bone morphogenetic proteins and vascular differentiation: BMPing up vasculogenesis.

Vasculogenesis is an important mechanism of blood vessel formation not only in embryos but also in adults. It may contribute to reparative effects of progenitor cell therapy in ischemic diseases such as myocardial infarction. Signaling pathways involved in embryonic development, including the BMP pathway, are reactivated in adult vasculogenesis. As a consequence knowledge about embryonic signaling events will help to understand blood vessel formation in the adult. The role of BMPs in embryonic development has been studied extensively in the past decades but only recently their role in vasculogenesis has been recognized. Gain and loss of function models indicate that BMPs stimulate vasculogenesis in the embryo as well as in the adult. Additionally, BMPs interact with other pathways involved in blood vessel formation, such asVEGF signaling. Studying novel molecules such as BMPER that modulate BMP activity and that are expressed in vascular cells will help to understand vasculogenetic signaling and may open up new therapeutic avenues in vascular disease.