Frontiers in Bioscience-Elite (FBE) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 2 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
In rheumatoid arthritis, chemokines mediate the migration of inflammatory leukocytes into the synovium. Among the four known chemokine families, CXC, CC chemokines and fractalkine seem to be of outstanding importance in this process. Angiogenesis, the formation of new vessels, is also important during the perpetuation of inflammation underlying rheumatoid arthritis. In this review, authors discuss the role of the most important chemokines and chemokine receptors in arthritis-associated neovascularization. The process and regulation of angiogenesis are described in this context as well. Apart from discussing the pathogenic role of chemokines and chemokine receptors in arthritic vessel formation, authors also review the important relevance of chemokines and angiogenesis for therapeutic intervention.