Artery smooth muscle- and vein smooth muscle-specific proteins and uses therefor

Abstract From the Canadian patent

Arterial and venous smooth muscle cells are molecularly distinct from the earliest stages of angiogenesis through to adulthood. This distinction is revelated by expression on arterial cells (e.g. arterial endothelial cells arterial smooth muscle cells) of a transmembrane ligand called EphrinB2 whose , receptor EphB4 is expressed on venous cells. Targeted disruption of the EphrinB2 genne prevents the remodeling of veins from a capillary plexus into properly branched structures. Moreover it also disrupts the remodeling of , arteries suggesting that reciprocal interactions between pre-specified arterial and venous cells are necessary for angiogenesis. Expression of EphrinB2 in arterial …