Main description:

This well-structured textbook offers essential knowledge on the vascular system.

The reader will learn the properties, basic cellular mechanisms and development of the different parts of the vascular system (including the heart), gain knowledge on vascular and related diseases, and will be made familiar with common and most current methods and techniques applied to analyze the vascular system in patients, in animal models, and ex vivo.

This book is based on a PhD Course for students from various bioscientific backgrounds given at the Medical University of Vienna, and it will be a valuable resource for Masters Students in vascular biology and biomedicine in general and a helpful tool for young researchers world-wide wishing to gain or refresh their knowledge in this field.

Contents:

1. Biology of the vascular system:

1.1. Morphological and functional characteristics of blood and lymphatic vessels

1.2. The heart: the engine in the center of the vascular system

1.3. Regulation of tissue perfusion and exchange of solutes and macromolecules

1.4. Endothelial cells: Function and dysfunction

1.5. Vascular smooth muscle cells: Regulation of vasoconstriction and vasodilation

1.6. Embryonic development of the vascular system

1.7. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, and lymphangiogenesis

1.8. Blood vessels and the immune system

1.9. Biology of wound healing

1.10. Mechanisms of hemostasis: Contributions of the vessel wall, platelets, and coagulation factors

1.11. Lipids and lipoproteins in vascular biology

2. Diseases, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic aspects

2.1. Atherosclerosis

2.2. Venous thromboembolism

2.3. Other diseases of the vascular system

2.4. Vascular biology in cancer development and metastasis

3. Experimental techniques

3.1. Diagnostic techniques in Vascular Medicine

3.2. Animal models in Vascular Biology

3.3. In vitro assays used to analyze vascular cell functions

3.4. Vascular tissue engineering