The vascular system, comprised of the heart and blood vessels, transports essential nutrients, oxygen, metabolites, and hormones, as well as phagocytic and immune cells, throughout the body. Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, plays key roles in wound healing, but a related process can facilitate the spread of malignant cancers. Defects in vascular physiology play crucial roles in major diseases such as stroke, heart attack, dementia, vision loss, and kidney failure. A fundamental understanding of the cellular and biochemical mechanisms that maintain the health of the vascular system is of widespread significance in disease prevention and novel treatments.
