Table 1.
Factors associated with adipose tissue angiogenesis.
| GENE/PROTEIN | ASSOCIATION WITH ADIPOSE TISSUE ANGIOGENESIS | REFERENCES |
|---|---|---|
| ANGPTL-4 (Angiopoietin- like 4) | Implicated in angiogenesis, lipid metabolism and glucose homeostasis; transcriptionally activated by PPARγ and hypoxia; highly expressed in adipose tissue, placenta and tumors. | [59, 79, 85, 91, 139] |
| APELIN | Highly expressed in adipose tissue; Ligand for G-protein coupled receptor APJ; required for vascular development in frog embryos; proangiogenic in human endothelial cells; up-regulated by hypoxia and during pregnancy and lactation. | [35, 71, 140-142] |
| PIGF/PLGF (Placental Growth Factor) | Interacts with VEGFR1; Inactivation impairs adipose tissue development. | [143, 144] |
| HGF (Hepatocyte Growth Factor) | Decreased formation of fat pads from 3T3- F442A cells with HGF knockdown. | [72] |
| FGF-1 (Fibrobalst Growth Factor-1) | Pathological adipose tissue vasculature in FGF-1 knockout mice under HFD. | [145] |
| SPARC/osteonectin/BM40 | Enriched in adipose tissue; Increased expression in obesity; promotes fibrosis. | [146-148] |
| Leptin | Produced exclusively by adipocytes; Induced vascularization in angiogenic assays; proangiogenic on human umbilical vein endothelial cells. | [67, 149, 150] |
| Adiponectin | Produced exclusively by adipocytes; chemo-attractant for endothelial progenitor cells; proangiogenic in human microvascular and umbilical vein endothelial cells. | [151-153] |
| Chemerin | Ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor CMKLR1; high level expression in mouse and human adipocytes; pro-angiogenic in human endothelial cells | [154, 155] |
| Ang-2 (Angiopoietin-2) | Increased in adipose tissue of obese mice; transcriptionally regulated by FOXC2 in adipose tissue. | [156, 157] |