Surprise in the battle field of vein vs. artery

Formation of arteries and veins is a complex process. It was shown that activation of the notch signaling pathway in the artery results on the activation of arterial markers and the suppression of vein markers. However, factor, which instructs endothelial cells to take on the vein or artery identity, has not been defined. It was assumed that VEGF, the key molecule which stimulates notch signaling pathway in the artery, is not available in the vein. Thus, endothelial cells, lacking notch signaling, acquire vein identity. Recently, Drs. Tsai and their colleague demonstrated that COUP-TFII, an orphan nuclear receptor, is an important factor that regulates vein identity through suppression of the notch signaling.