Vascular Development - Anatomy & Physiology

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Overview of Vascular Development

Blood vessel formation is a combination of the following three processes:

• Vasculogenesis: the formation of blood vessels from endothelial progenitor cells.
• Angiogenesis: the sprouting of new capillaries from pre-existing vessels.
• Arteriogenesis: the remodelling of newly formed or pre-existing vascular channels into larger and more muscular arterioles.

Vasculogenesis

Vasculogenesis occurs during the third week of gestation in domestic mammals, initially in the yolk sac and afterwards in the allantois. The blood vessels form from blood islands called haemangioblasts which develop from mesodermal cells in the presence of fibroblast growth factor. Exposure to angiopoietin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulate differentiation of haemangioblasts to angioblasts which ultimately develop into endothelial cells.