Endothelial Cell Migration during Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis, the growth of new capillaries from preexisting blood vessels, is a complex process involving endothelial cell (EC) activation, disruption of vascular basement membranes, and migration and proliferation of ECs. Endothelial cell migration is essential to angiogenesis. This process is an integrated resultant of 3 mechanisms, namely (i) chemotaxis, the directional migration toward a gradient of soluble chemoattractants; (ii) haptotaxis, the directional migration toward a gradient of immobilized ligands; and (iii) mechanotaxis, the directional migration generated by mechanical forces.