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Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors and the development of the vascular system
Maria Laura Allende1, Richard L Proia
1Genetics of Development and Disease Branch, National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Room 9N-314, Building 10, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center DR MSC 1821, Bethesda, MD 20892-1821, USA.
Abstract:
Extracellular sphingolipid signaling has been implicated as an essential event in vascular development. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), through interactions with G protein-coupled receptors, regulates functions of endothelial and smooth muscle cells (SMCs)-the major cell types of the vasculature. The knockout of the gene encoding the S1P1 receptor (formally known as Edg-1) in mice blocks vascular maturation, the process where SMCs and pericytes envelop nascent endothelial tubes. The question that remains is how stimulation of S1P receptors controls this critical event in the developmental sequence leading to the formation of functional blood vessels.