Blood vessel formation involves two distinct but interconnected processes: vasculogenesis, the de novo formation of vessels from endothelial progenitor cells, and angiogenesis, the sprouting or splitting of vessels from pre-existing vasculature. Vasculogenesis establishes the primary vascular plexus, while angiogenesis remodels and expands the network under the control of key regulators such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The two processes are often conflated, obscuring their distinct cellular origins and regulatory mechanisms. Their coordination is essential for vascular development, tissue homeostasis, regeneration, and disease. Despite extensive research on VEGF signaling and endothelial progenitor cells, important questions remain regarding the roles of inhibitory signals, cellular metabolism, intracellular trafficking, and tissue-specific microenvironments in vascular patterning and function. These gaps are particularly relevant in pancreatic islets, kidney glomeruli, and other organs affected by diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, and retinal diseases. Emerging studies have identified stress-responsive pathways and additional regulatory axes, but an integrated mechanistic framework remains lacking.
This Research Topic aims to provide multidisciplinary insights into the molecular and cellular regulation of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis in physiological and pathological contexts. It will examine how these processes are distinguished, coordinated, and balanced during development, adult tissue maintenance, and repair; how signals are integrated across endothelial, epithelial, stromal, and immune cells; how vascular formation responds to physiological stress and injury; and how dysregulation leads to microvascular and organ dysfunction. By connecting molecular mechanisms with tissue- and organism-level outcomes, the Research Topic seeks to advance understanding of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis as distinct yet complementary processes and support the development of targeted strategies to restore or modulate vascular formation.
To gather further insights into the integrative regulation of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis, this Research Topic will focus on mechanisms operating across health and disease, as well as their modulation using pharmacological compounds, antisense oligonucleotides, and siRNA-based approaches, with potential relevance to cancer, obesity, retinal disease, and diabetes-related cardio-renal complications. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Distinctions, interactions, and transitions between vasculogenesis and angiogenesis in development and disease • Endothelial progenitor cell biology and de novo vessel formation • Coordination of pro- and anti-angiogenic signaling networks • Endothelial cell heterogeneity, plasticity, and lineage tracing • Cross-talk among vascular, epithelial, immune, and stromal compartments • Roles of intracellular signaling, trafficking, and metabolism • Organ- and tissue-specific vascular remodeling • Mechanisms of vascular dysfunction in chronic and metabolic diseases • Physiological and therapeutic modulation of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis • Systems-level, multi-omics, and integrative physiological approaches • Translational models linking molecular mechanisms to organ-level vascular outcomes
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Conceptual Analysis
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
