These proteins most closely resembled those
made by endothelial cells in the lymphatic system, not the proteins made by macrophages or other immune cells.
Identifying the factor
released by endothelial cells could lead, said Stainier, to a mechanism for prompting naive, or undifferentiated, cells to develop into red blood cells, which could then be used to boost the blood supply.
Flavonoids, including anthocyanins, seem to modulate this type of monocyte adhesion during the inflammatory process by decreasing their
expression by endothelial cells.
They focused towards this end on the vascular growth factor Angiopoietin - 2, which is
produced by endothelial cells and does not just control angiogenesis, but acts as a key responsiveness factor for endothelial cells.
Since invasion is dependent on extracellular matrix remodeling capabilities, this inhibitory effect strongly suggested that the two key extracellular membrane remodeling enzymes
expressed by endothelial cells, namely, MMP - 2 and uPA could be other main key targets of the pharmacological action of kahweol on endothelial cells.
MIT engineers designed RNA - carrying nanoparticles (red) that can be taken up
by endothelial cells (stained blue).
MMP - 2 and uPA are extracellular matrix remodeling ezymes expressed
by endothelial cells and involved in angiogenesis.