The vasculature plays a critical role in homeostasis and health as well as in the development and progression of a wide range of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases (and their complications), chronic inflammatory diseases, ophthalmic diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. As such, the growth of the vasculature mediates normal development and physiology, as well as disease, when pathologically induced vessels are morphologically and functionally altered owing to an imbalance of angiogenesis-stimulating and angiogenesis-inhibiting factors. This review offers an overview of the angiogenic process and discusses recent findings that provide additional interesting nuances to this process, including the roles of intussusception and angiovasculogenesis, which may hold promise for future therapeutic interventions. In addition, we review the methodology, including those of in vitro and in vivo assays, which has helped build the vast amount of knowledge on angiogenesis available today and identify important remaining knowledge gaps that should be bridged through future research.
Animals ; Signal Transduction/physiology* ; Humans ; Neovascularization, Pathologic/physiopathology* ; Neovascularization, Physiologic/physiology* ; Models, Animal ; Angiogenesis

Anti-angiogenic drugs (AADs), which mainly target the vascular endothelial growth factor-A signaling pathway, have become a therapeutic option for cancer patients for two decades. During this period, tremendous clinical experience of anti-angiogenic therapy has been acquired, new AADs have been developed, and the clinical indications for AAD treatment of various cancers have been expanded using monotherapy and combination therapy. However, improvements in the therapeutic outcomes of clinically available AADs and the development of more effective next-generation AADs are still urgently required. This review aims to provide historical and perspective views on tumor angiogenesis to allow readers to gain mechanistic insights and learn new therapeutic development. We revisit the history of concept initiation and AAD discovery, and summarize the up-to-date clinical translation of anti-angiogenic cancer therapy in this field.

Objective Previous studies have shown that genetic variants in the interferons regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene are associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in European and Japanese, but not found in Han Chinese. We conducted this study to investigate whether genetic variants in the IRF5 gene are associated with RA in ShaanXi Han Chinese population. Methods This study was collected 576 RA patients and 768 normal controls. Six IRF5 gene polymorphisms (rs729302, rs2004640, rs752637, rs3807306, rs10954213 and rs2280714) were genotyped by the SNaPshot method. T-test and χ2 test were used for statistic analysis. The genotype and allele frequencies were evaluated using the chi square tests. Genotyping data were adjusted by Logistic regression method by age and gender. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) block structure was examined using Hapview 4.2 software. Results Six SNPs inspected complied with Hardy-weinberg equilibrium (P>0.05). Two SNPs were significantly associated with RA: rs729302 A risk allele [OR=1.29, 95%CI (1.10, 1.50), P=5.57×10-3];dominant model [OR=1.58, 95%CI (1.10, 2.27), P=0.024], recessive model [OR=1.31, 95%CI (1.17, 1.64), P=0.028]. rs2004640 T risk allele [OR=1.28, 95%CI (1.08, 1.54), P=0.039]; dominant model [OR=1.27, 95%CI (1.03, 1.58), P=0.036]. In addition, there was no significant difference in rs752637, rs3807306, rs10954213 and rs2280714 SNPs between RA group and control and genotyped polymorphisms were significantly associated with RA susceptibility. Conclusion The present study confirm that rs729302 and rs2004640 in the IRF5 gene is significantly associated with increased risk of RA in ShaanXi Han Chinese population.

Objective To investigate the influencing factors of penile erectile function following transurethral electrovaporization of the prostate(TUVP). Methods Using the international index of erectile function 5 (IIEF 5) questionaire to survey penile erectile function in patients undergoing TUVP preoperatively and postoperatively.The associations of the postoperative IIEF 5 results with patient age,prostatic volume,operative time,amount of bleeding during operation,trauma of the capsule,urinary infection,retrograde ejaculation,international prostate symptom score(IPSS) was analyzed. Results The questionnaire result of postoperative IIEF 5 was significantly lower than preoperative one year ( P

Objective To observe the effects of salvianolic acid B on the stem cells factor(SCF) secretion and mRNA expression of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) in vitro.Methods MSCs were isolated,cultured and purified in vitro by adherent culture.The 3rd passage of MSCs was chosen to undergo the experiments.MSCs were cultured in five groups of lower glucose DMEM media containing different concentration of salvianolic acid B as follows: group of control(no salvianolic acid B added),four groups of salvianolic acid B treatment(0.03?g/ml,0.3?g/ml,3?g/ml and 30?g/ml of salvianolic acid B were added,respectively,into the lower glucose DMEM media).The quantities of SCF were measured by ELISA in the supernatant of cultured MSCs harvested at 24h,48h and 72h culturing.The expression of SCF mRNA in the supernatant of cultured MSCs harvested at 24h,48h and 72h culturing were analyzed with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.Results RT-PCR assay displayed that dissolvent and membrane type of SCF mRNA expressed in MSCs basically.The expression of SCF mRNA and the quantities of SCF increased significantly(compared with the control group,P0.05).Conclusion Salvianolic acid B may promote the secretion of SCF and reinforce the expression of SCF mRNA of MSCs,implying that SCF might play an important role on the treatment of myocardial ischemia with the traditional Chinese medicine Salviae miltiorrhizae.