BIOL3108 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Angiogenesis Inhibitor, Coronary Artery Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis
Document Summary
The vasculature: the system that supplies tumour cells with essentials for life. Angiogenesis is the growth of new blood vessels and is an important natural process in the body. Need blood vessels to form in the body -> lots of different types. Angiogenesis is the way in which the body forms and shuts down capillaries. A healthy body maintains a perfect balance of angiogenesis modulators. In many serious disease states, the body loses control over angiogenesis. Diseases that are angiogenesis-dependent result when blood vessels either grow excessively or insufficiently. Excessive angiogenesis occurs in diseases such as cancer, diabetic blindness, age- related macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and many other conditions -> many of these have major inflammatory components. Autocrine stimulation -> feedbacks on itself, sends out things it can use to stimulate its own proliferation. Secretion of paracrine growth factors -> effects cells next door, to enable its own growth.
