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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Investigating Angiogenesis on a Functional and Molecular Level by Leveraging the Scratch Wound Migration Assay and the Spheroid Sprouting Assay
Published on: May 31, 2024
Approaches to studying cell adhesion molecules in angiogenesis
1Surgical Research Laboratory, Children's Hospital and Dept of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Capillaries provide a vast interface between the blood and the tissues that is crucial for regulating nutrient delivery, blood coagulation and transmigration of leukocytes to sites of infection. The growth of new capillaries from pre-existing vessels (angiogenesis) is essential for normal embryogenesis and growth, but also occurs in the development of many diseases. Although relatively little is known about endothelial cell biology, progress is nevertheless being made towards understanding angiogenesis, and several laboratories have begun to identify cell adhesion molecules that may be required for the growth of microvessels.
Capillaries provide a vast interface between the blood and the tissues that is crucial for regulating nutrient delivery, blood coagulation and transmigration of leukocytes to sites of infection. The growth of new capillaries from pre-existing vessels (angiogenesis) is essential for normal embryogenesis and growth, but also occurs in the development of many diseases. Although relatively little is known about endothelial cell biology, progress is nevertheless being made towards understanding angiogenesis, and several laboratories have begun to identify cell adhesion molecules that may be required for the growth of microvessels.
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