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Intussusceptive angiogenesis in Covid-19: hypothesis on the significance and focus on the possible role of FGF2
- Source :
- Molecular Biology Reports, Europe PubMed Central
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2020.
-
Abstract
- The interest on the role of angiogenesis in the pathogenesis and progression of human interstitial lung diseases is growing, with conventional sprouting (SA) and non-sprouting intussusceptive angiogenesis (IA) being differently represented in specific pulmonary injury patterns. The role of viruses as key regulators of angiogenesis is known for several years. A significantly enhanced amount of new vessel growth, through a mechanism of IA, has been reported in lungs of patients who died from Covid-19; among the angiogenesis-related genes, fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) was found to be upregulated. These findings are intriguing. FGF2 plays a role in some viral infections: the upregulation is involved in the MERS-CoV-induced strong apoptotic response crucial for its highly lytic replication cycle in lung cells, whereas FGF2 is protective against the acute lung injury induced by H1N1 influenza virus, improving the lung wet-to-dry weight ratio. FGF2 plays a role also in regulating IA, acting on pericytes (crucial for the formation of intraluminal pillars), and endothelium, and FGF2-induced angiogenesis may be promoted by inflammation and hypoxia. IA is a faster and probably more efficient process than SA, able to modulate vascular remodeling through pruning of redundant or inefficient blood vessels. We can speculate that IA might have the function of restoring a functional vascular plexus consequently to extensive endothelialitis and alveolar capillary micro-thrombosis observed in Covid-19. Anti-Vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) strategies are currently investigated for treatment of severe and critically ill Covid-19 patients, but also FGF2, and its expression and/or signaling, might represent a promising target.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Angiogenesis
Covid-19
FGF2
Intussusceptive
VEGF
Virus
Antiviral Agents
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections
Drug Delivery Systems
Fibroblast Growth Factor 2
Humans
Intussusception
Neovascularization, Pathologic
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral
Endothelium
Short Communication
medicine.medical_treatment
Inflammation
Lung injury
Biology
Fibroblast growth factor
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Downregulation and upregulation
Genetics
medicine
Intussusceptive angiogenesis
Molecular Biology
Growth factor
General Medicine
030104 developmental biology
medicine.anatomical_structure
030220 oncology & carcinogenesis
Cancer research
medicine.symptom
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15734978 and 03014851
- Volume :
- 47
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Molecular Biology Reports
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....c74b01ce23081d192cac89f5f61134e0