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(Circulation Research. 2009;104:159.)
© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.

Reviews

Shared Circuitry

Developmental Signaling Cascades Regulate Both Embryonic and Adult Coronary Vasculature

Kory J. Lavine, David M. Ornitz

From the Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo.

Correspondence to David M. Ornitz, Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Developmental Biology, Campus Box 8103, 660 S Euclid Ave, St Louis, MO 63110. E-mail dornitz{at}wustl.edu

This Review is part of a thematic series on Arterial Specification: A Finishing School for the Endothelium, which includes the following articles:

Role of Crosstalk Between Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase and Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase/Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways in Artery–Vein Specification [2008;103:571–577]

Branching Morphogenesis [2008;103:784–795]

Brothers and Sisters: Molecular Insights into Arterial–Venous Heterogeneity [2008;103:929–939]

Shared Circuitry: Developmental Signaling Cascades Regulate Both Embryonic and Adult Coronary Vasculature

Guidance of Vascular Development: Lessons From the Nervous System

Arterial–Venous Specification During Development
Michael Simons Guest Editor

Ischemic heart disease is the most common cause of heart failure and is among the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Therapies used for the treatment of this disease aim to restore blood flow to severely narrowed or occluded coronary arteries by either catheter-based or surgical means. Although these strategies prove efficacious for many patients, a substantial number of individuals fail to improve following these procedures. Recently, a noninvasive strategy has been proposed, focusing on the use of endogenous growth factors that trigger the growth of new coronary arteries. Using the developing heart as a model, several groups have identified some of the key pathways that not only govern the development of the coronary vascular system but also promote the growth of the adult coronary vasculature. Here, we review the major morphological events and signaling cascades that mediate the formation of the coronary vasculature in the embryo. We further describe the mechanism by which many of these same pathways also regulate the adult coronary vasculature and their potential use in the treatment of ischemic heart disease.

Key Words: fibroblast growth factor • hedgehog • VEGF • angiopoietin • coronary vascular development

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Zeini, C. T. Hang, J. Lehrer-Graiwer, T. Dao, B. Zhou, and C.-P. Chang Spatial and temporal regulation of coronary vessel formation by calcineurin-NFAT signaling Development, October 1, 2009; 136(19): 3335 - 3345. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]