Background: Treatment with vasodilators can improve renal function in early stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Objective: Study the mechanism of vascular repair in 20 CKD patients associated with actual creatinine clearance greater than 60 mL/min/1.73m2 (mean 84+24 mL/min/1.73m2) who had been under treatment with vasodilators. Results: Initial study on angiogenic factors revealed a...

Tie2, an endothelial cell-specific receptor kinase, has an important role in tumour angiogenesis. In an attempt to identify peptides that specifically interact with and block the Tie2 pathway, a phage-displayed peptide library was screened on a recombinant Tie2 receptor. One peptide, NLLMAAS, completely abolished the binding to Tie2 of both angiopoietin 2 and angiopoietin 1 (Ang1). We further s...

The angiopoietins act through the endothelial receptor tyrosine kinase Tie2 to regulate vessel maturation in angiogenesis and control quiescence and stability of established vessels. The activating ligand, Ang1 (angiopoietin-1), is constitutively expressed by perivascular cells, and the ability of endothelial cells to respond to the ligand is controlled at the level of the Ang1 receptor. This r...

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