Editorial

Welcome to Journal of Angiogenesis Research

Mark Slevin^1,2 , Yihai Cao³ and Jan Kitajewski⁴

¹  Section of Vascular Biology, School of Biology, Chemistry and Health Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK

²  Department of Clinical Biomedicine, ICCC, St Pau Hospital, Barcelona, Spain

³  Department of Vascular biology, Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Nobels väg 16, Karolinska Institute, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden

⁴  Department of Reproductive Sciences, Columbia University Medical Center, Columbia, New York, USA

author email corresponding author email

Journal of Angiogenesis Research 2009, 1:1doi:10.1186/2040-2384-1-1

Published:	21 September 2009

Abstract

Angiogenesis is the growth of new blood vessels and is a key process which occurs during both physiological and pathological disease processes. Knowledge of the mechanisms through which this process is initiated and maintained will have a significant impact on the treatment of these diseases. Pathological angiogenesis occurs in major diseases such as cancer, diabetic retinopathies, age-related macular degeneration and atherosclerosis. In other diseases such as stroke and myocardial infarction, insufficient or improper angiogenesis results in tissue loss and ultimately higher morbidity and mortality.