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Chromogranin A: a paradoxical player in angiogenesis and vascular biology

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Abstract

Half a century after the discovery of chromogranin A as a secreted product of the catecholamine storage granules in the bovine adrenal medulla, the physiological role for the circulating pool of this protein has been recently coined, namely as an important player in vascular homeostasis. While the circulating chromogranin A since 1984 has proved to be a significant and useful marker of a wide range of pathophysiological and pathological conditions involving the diffuse neuroendocrine system, this protein has now been assigned a physiological “raison d’etre” as a regulator in vascular homeostasis. Moreover, chromogranin A processing in response to tissue damage and blood coagulation provides the first indication of a difference in time frame of the regulation of angiogenesis evoked by the intact chromogranin A and its two major peptide products, vasostatin-1 and catestatin. The impact of these discoveries on vascular homeostasis, angiogenesis, cancer, tissue repair and cardio-regulation will be discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC 14338 and 9965) of Italy.

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The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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  1. Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Haukelandsvei 1, 5009, Bergen, Norway

    Karen B. Helle

  2. Division of Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, Milan, Italy

    Angelo Corti

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  1. Karen B. Helle
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  2. Angelo Corti
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Correspondence to Angelo Corti.

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Helle, K.B., Corti, A. Chromogranin A: a paradoxical player in angiogenesis and vascular biology. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 72, 339–348 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-014-1750-9

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