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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Mol Bioeng. 2011 Dec;4(4):547–559. doi: 10.1007/s12195-011-0208-5

Figure 1.

Figure 1

The process of angiogenesis occurs as an orderly series of events. 1) Fluid WSS and a chemotactic concentration gradient of biochemical agonists synergistically activate ECs lining a pre-existing blood vessel. 2) Activated ECs begin to cleave the underlying extracellular matrix through enzymatic proteolysis and migrate into newly-formed passages. 3) A lumen forms while additional ECs migrate and proliferate behind the tip cell to form the stalk. 4) Sprouts join at their tips, anastomosing with existing vessels, to form a new path for blood flow.