October 2009 Newsletter

William Maniscalco, M.D.

The Maniscalco laboratory focuses on the development of the microvasculature and the effects of oxidant injury. The factors that regulate development of the pulmonary microvasculature are not known but likely involve vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors. VEGF is a peptide growth factor that is specifically mitogenic for endothelial cells. It may be a major angiogenic growth factor in several situations, such as lung development and recovery lung injury, in which neovascularization is active. They have determined that alveolar type II cells express VEGF in animals during the recovery phase of lung injury.