Arteriogenesis - Molecular Regulation, Pathophysiology and Therapeutics I

Arteriogenesis describes the growth, remodelling and maturation of pre-existing collateral arteries into true arteries. Functioning as natural bypasses these collaterals are able to compensate for nonfunctional stenotic/occluded arteries and, therefore, may, in the hopefully not too distant future, substitute for clinical interventions such as balloon dilatation or even heart transplantation. Pre-existing collateral arteries, the growth of which is triggered by increased mechanical stress, occur not only in the heart, but virtually in every organ of the body. Research on molecular mechanisms of arteriogenesis aiming to comprehend this naturally occurring physiological process in order to induce it therapeutically where needed, started several years ago. A first book reporting basic and current knowledge on arteriogenesis was released in 2004 ("Arteriogenesis", Wolfgang Schaper and Jutta Schaper (eds.)). Since then, a lot of progress has been made on understanding how mechanical stress (fluid shear stress) is translated into the diverse biological signal transduction cascades finally resulting in cell proliferation and arterial growth. With the publication of this volume, we want to update the current knowledge in collateral artery growth.