Basement membrane biosynthesis as a target for developing inhibitors of angiogenesis with anti-tumor properties.

Basement membrane (BM) exerts profound influence on endothelial cell (EC) behavior. In addition BM is a structural element of blood vessels; in fact at some point of their formation blood vessels are bare EC tubes lined with the BM produced by these EC. We thought, therefore, that a quantitative relationship must exist between the rate of BM synthesis and angiogenesis, and that interfering with BM synthesis must have an effect on angiogenesis.