Bacterial Toxins: A Hope Towards Angiogenic Ailments

Angiogenesis is an essential physiological process for growth and maintenance of the body. Especially its role becomes indispendable during the embryonic development stage but lacks in adults with some exceptions like while wound repair and menstrual cycle. It is a tightly regulated process and relies on the cascade of several molecular signaling pathways with the involvement of many effectors like vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF) etc.

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Excessive angiogenesis leads to disorders like tumor, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic retinopathy, endometriosis, psoriasis, and adiposity. While, reduced angiogenesis also results in several ailments like cardiac ischemia, low capillary density in brain of Alzheimer's patients and delayed wound healing. Therefore, both angio-proliferative and anti-angiogenic approaches may be of use in developing novel therapeutics. Bacterial toxins are known for modulating the process of angiogenesis by mimicking pro-angiogenic factors and/ or competing with them. Furthermore, they inactivate the receptors or keep them in ON status, hence can be used to treat angiogenic disorders. The ease in handling, cultivation and manipulating the toxins structure has enabled the use of bacteria as an ideal choice for novel therapeutic developments.

This review intends to elucidate the molecular mechanisms through which certain bacteria may alter the level of angiogenesis and consequently can work as therapeutics against angiogenic disorders.