Scientists reveal molecular ‘yin-yang’ of blood vessel growth

Biologists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a crucial process that regulates the development of blood vessels. The finding could lead to new treatments for disorders involving abnormal blood vessel growth, including common disorders such as diabetic retinopathy and cancer.

“Essentially we’ve shown how the protein SerRS acts as a brake on new blood vessel growth and pairs with the growth-promoting transcription factor c-Myc to bring about proper vascular development,” said TSRI Professor Xiang-Lei Yang. “They act as the yin and yang of transcriptional regulation.”

Yang and her colleagues reported the new findings this week in the biology journaleLife.

Multitasking Enzymes

SerRS (seryl tRNA synthetase) belongs to a family of enzymes that have fundamental, evolutionarily ancient roles in the protein-making machinery of cells. But as Yang’s and other laboratories have been finding in recent years, some of these protein-maker enzymes seem to have evolved extra functions.