Roles of calcitonin gene-related peptide in facilitation of wound healing and angiogenesis.

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a 37-amino acid neuropeptide produced by tissue-specific alternative splicing of the primary transcript of the calcitonin/CGRP gene. CGRP is widely distributed in the central and peripheral neuronal systems and exhibits numerous biological activities in mammals. We examined in the present study whether or not endogenous CGRP released from neuronal systems facilitates neovascularization indispensable to wound healing.