Bone has the unique capacity to heal with out the formation of a fibrous scar, likely because several of the cellular
and molecular processes governing bone healing recapitulate the events during skeletal development. A critical
component in bone healing is the timely appearance of blood vessels in the fracture callus. Angiogenesis, the
formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, is stimulated after fracture by the local production of
numerous angiogenic growth factors. The fracture vasculature not only supplies oxygen and nutrients, but also
stem cells able to differentiate into osteoblasts and in a later phase also the ions necessary for mineralization.
This review provides a concise report of the regulation of angiogenesis by bone cells, its importance during bone
healing and its possible therapeutic applications in bone tissue engineering. This article is part of a Special Issue
entitled “Stem Cells and Bone”.
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