Cellular and molecular mechanisms in angiogenesis.

Low concentrations of copper sulphate, Dispirin, or Walker carcinoma extract elicit intraocular vascularization when tested by anterior chamber implants in rats. The response is markedly depressed by pre-treatment of animals with methylprednisolone acetate, suggesting that such induced vascularization is mediated by leucocytes. Since many agents inducing vascularization also induce migration of cultured endothelial cells, it raises the problem of how to isolate and study the action of possible leucocyte-derived angiogenic factors. Regardless of the identity of the natural angiogenic factor or factors, it is proposed that during blood vessel formation specialized endothelial cells migrate in response to an angiogenic signal and deposit fibronectin on which other cells can track and subsequently adhere, forming an endothelium.