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A central event in angiogenesis is proliferation of blood vessels, which plays a major role in the progression of a number of inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. It is responsible for the switch of endothelial cells from an antiangiogenic to an angiogenic phenotype. To identify novel activated/proliferating-related proteins in human endothelial cells, a subtractive immunization approach was used to elicit a host antibody response against human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs) stimulated with a potent angiogenic cytokine such as VPF/VEGF165. In this study, a new mAb, LY9, which is highly specific to VPF/VEGF165-activated HDMECs, was isolated. Stimulation of HDMECs by VPF/VEGF165 or basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) resulted in a dose-dependent and time-dependent increase in the binding of LY9. On Western-blot analysis, LY9 identified an 85-kDa protein (p85) in the lysates of several endothelial cells derived from microvascular or large vessel sources, the expression of which is dramatically increased by VPF/VEGF165. The mAb also identified p85 in primary cell cultures of human foreskin keratinocytes but failed to recognize human fibroblasts (MRC5) and a number of different human tumor cell lines, including MG63 osteosarcoma and MCF7 breast carcinoma cells. Immunological screening of a human keratinocyte lambdagt11 cDNA expression library with LY9 identified a partial cDNA clone of 750 bp. DNA sequencing of this clone and predicted amino acids showed more than 93% homology to RING3 kinase, a member of a newly described family of bromodomain-containing proteins that transactivates in the nucleus the promoters of a number of the E2F family of transcription factors. This molecule may represent a new signaling target activated by VPF/VEGF165 and bFGF that allows endothelial cells to enter the proliferative phase of the angiogenic process.

In order to highlight the variation of the form due to the presence of different ecological factors, we investigated in this paper the morphological variation between and within the two marine species Salaria basilisca and S. pavo. This study was based on two approaches, the Truss network and the geometric morphometric and involved specimens of both species divided into marine and lagoon samples. The two approaches yielded complementary results showing clear morphological discrimination of the two species Thus, S. basilisca is distinguished by a higher depth and length as well as a higher head with a compressed snout compared to S. pavo which has a shortened body, a lower head and a slightly stretched snout. At an intraspecific scale, both approaches showed a discrimination of marine and lagoon samples for both species: marine samples tend to have an elongated, shallower body with a small head while lagoon samples are distinguished by a shorter, deeper body and a tall head.