Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology
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Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. · Aug 2009
Comparative StudyMatrix metalloproteinase-9 is essential for ischemia-induced neovascularization by modulating bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells.
Both matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been implicated in the process of neovascularization. Here we show that the impaired neovascularization in mice lacking MMP-9 is related to a defect in EPC functions in vasculogenesis. ⋯ These findings suggest that MMP-9 deficiency impairs ischemia-induced neovascularization, and these effects may occur through a reduction in releasing the stem cell-active cytokine, and EPC mobilization, migration, and vasculogenesis functions.
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Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. · Aug 2009
Historical ArticleThe tissue-type plasminogen activator story.
Milestones in the development of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) as a fibrin-specific thrombolytic agent include: purification of human t-PA from the culture fluid of the Bowes melanoma cell line, elucidation of the molecular basis of fibrin-specific plasminogen activation, first experimental animal models of thrombosis, first patient (renal allograft) treated with melanoma t-PA, pilot studies in patients with acute myocardial infarction, cloning and expression of recombinant t-PA providing sufficient amounts for large scale clinical use, and demonstration of its therapeutic benefit in large multicenter clinical trials.