Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a cell surface receptor protein called TIE2 as the missing link between two key signaling pathways that drive the growth of blood vessel abnormalities known as cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). The study, to be published March 27 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), suggests that drugs targeting TIE2 could be used to prevent the formation of CCMs, which, if left untreated, can cause brain hemorrhages, strokes, and seizures.
CCMs are mulberry-shaped vascular lesions that arise in the veins and venules of the central nervous system, resulting in fragile blood vessels with abnormally thin walls. They are usually caused by mutations in one of three genes. These mutations can be inherited within…