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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2003;23:6.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorials

Thrombospondins and Premature Coronary Artery Disease

Time to Go Beyond Genotype-Phenotype Association Studies

Anders Hamsten; Per Eriksson

From the Atherosclerosis Research Unit, King Gustaf V Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

Correspondence to Professor Anders Hamsten MD PhD FRCP, King Gustaf V Research Institute, Karolinska Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail anders.hamsten@ks.se

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) has been for several years a research focus in the field of vascular biology. In addition to providing structural support to the arterial wall, the ECM exerts several important biological functions. It serves as a substrate for cell adhesion, plays an active role in regulating cell migration and proliferation, influences cell-cell interactions, acts as a reservoir for growth factors, and constitutes a site for lipoprotein binding. The composition of the ECM has a strong impact on its function and is controlled by the synthesis and degradation of the various components, which interact through entanglement and cross-linking to form a biomechanically active polymer network. Whereas collagens and elastin ensure structure, strength, and elasticity, proteoglycans, hyaluronan, and glycoproteins interact with vascular cells, growth factors, and cytokines to modulate cell adhesion, migration and proliferation, arterial wall permeability, and lipoprotein metabolism and hemostasis.

See December 2002, page 2092

Thrombospondins are glycoproteins which constitute a family of at least five, structurally related, multidomain ECM proteins, of which three (THBS-1, -2 and, -5) have been detected in vascular tissue.^1–3 Whereas a range of functional properties have been attributed to THBS-1,⁴ the diverse functions in the ECM of THBS-2 and -5 remain poorly understood. However, like THBS-1, THBS-2 is considered to play a role as an adaptor and modulator of cell-matrix interactions through interaction with cell-surface receptors, cytokines, growth factors, proteases, and structural proteins.⁴ THBS-5, on the other hand, may be involved in the adhesion and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells during . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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