CEACAM1 Is Key For Blood Vessel Growth In Mice

Main Category: Blood / Hematology
Article Date: 09 May 2006 - 8:00 PDT

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The growth and remodeling of blood vessels occurs in adults by a process known as angiogenesis, and it can support the development and regeneration of organs as well as the progression of malignant diseases. Therefore the ability to be able to manipulate angiogenesis in disease is a highly desirable therapeutic option. A protein known as CEACAM1 (carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1), which is expressed in newly formed blood vessels, had been previously shown to regulate the growth, maturation, and movement of mouse endothelial cells when grown in culture in the laboratory. In a study appearing online on May 4 in advance of print publication in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Christoph Wagener and colleagues from University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany, now demonstrate that CEACAM1 expression is similarly important for the establishment of newly formed vessels in vivo in mice. They examined mice lacking CEACAM1 as well as mice in which CEACAM1 was only expressed by endothelial cells, which line blood vessels. Ceacam1-/- mice were unable to grow new capillaries in response to injury, whereas the mice expressing CEACAM1 only in their endothelial cells were able to do so. The results of this study suggest that CEACAM1 could be a future target for therapeutic manipulation of angiogenesis in disease states.

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Highlights from the Journal of Clinical Investigation

TITLE: Carcinoembryonic antigenâ€"related cell adhesion molecule 1 modulates vascular remodeling in vitro and in vivo

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Christoph Wagener
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=24340

Contact: Brooke Grindlinger
Journal of Clinical Investigation

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