Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis is the process by which new capillaries sprout from existing vessels. It is essential to wound healing, since repairing tissue needs a blood supply, and it is driven by signalling molecules of which vascular endothelial growth factor is the best known. The same process feeds tumours, which is why compounds that promote angiogenesis carry a theoretical concern that appears in their safety sections.

Among the peptides profiled here, angiogenesis is central to BPC-157. Its most reproducible mechanistic finding, confirmed by a laboratory independent of the group that discovered it, is increased expression and activation of VEGF receptor 2 on endothelial cells, with faster vessel formation in ischaemic tissue. TB-500 promotes endothelial cell migration through a different route, actin regulation, which is the basis for pairing the two. GHK-Cu has also been reported to stimulate angiogenesis in wound models.

The findings are almost entirely from animal and cell studies. No human trial has measured angiogenesis in response to any of these compounds, and the profiles say so.