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Brief Reviews |
From the Department of Medicine, Divisions of Cardiology (E.C.K.) and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (B.M., R.M.S.), University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Correspondence to Robert M. Strieter, MD, University of Virginia, Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Critical Care, Box 800466, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0466. E-mail Strieter{at}Virginia.edu
Series Editor: Christian Weber
ATVB In Focus
Chemokines in Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
Chemokines are a superfamily of homologous heparin-binding proteins, first described for their role in recruiting leukocytes to sites of inflammation. Chemokines have since been recognized as key factors mediating both physiological and pathological neovascularization in such diverse clinical settings as malignancy, wound repair, chronic fibroproliferative disorders, myocardial ischemia, and atherosclerosis. Members of the CXC chemokine family, structurally defined as containing the ELR amino acid motif, are potent inducers of angiogenesis, whereas another subset of the CXC chemokines inhibits angiogenesis. In addition, CCL2, a CC chemokine ligand, has been implicated in arteriogenesis. In this article, we review the current literature on the role of chemokines as mediators of neovascularization.
Key Words: angiogenesis cytokines arteriogenesis chemokines
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