GrowTallest

HIF-1α and VEGF

Why the growth plate runs short of oxygen, what HIF does for a chondrocyte, why blood vessels arrive at the end of the process rather than driving it, and the other signals working at the vascular front.

Matrix and boneUpdated

12 min read33 sources

HIF-1α and VEGF: cartilage has no blood supply, so oxygen is lowest in the middle of the growth plate, where HIF-1α keeps the cells alive. Swollen cells at the far end release VEGF, and blood vessels grow in from the bone to clear the cartilage. O₂Low oxygenVessels invadeHIF-1α keeps cells alivedrawn in by VEGF

A growth plate has no blood supply of its own. Nutrients arrive by diffusion, and the cells in the middle of it are hypoxic.

In this article

  • What invading blood vessels do
  • The enzymes that cut the matrix away
  • PDGF-BB and type H vessels
  • CXCL12 and CXCR4
  • Compounds

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