Investigation of the role of nitric oxide driven angiogenesis by zinc oxide nanoflowers

Angiogenesis is a vital process that deals with the generation of new blood vessels from pre-existing vasculature and is well known to regulate various physiological as well as pathophysiological processes. We demonstrated that zinc oxide nanoflowers (ZONF) exhibited pro-angiogenic properties in endothelial cells through the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), especially H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). The immense importance of angiogenesis in ischemic and cardiovascular diseases highlights an urgent need to comprehend the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the ZONF induced angiogenesis process. However, the exact mechanism and signaling pathways behind nanoflowers mediated angiogenesis still remain unclear. In the present study, we report that ZONF induce angiogenesis through MAPK/Akt/eNOS mediated nitric oxide formation, which further acts in a cGMP dependent manner. We strongly believe that exploration of the molecular mechanism and signaling pathways of ZONF driven angiogenesis would be helpful for the advancement of alternative and efficient treatment strategies for ischemic and cardiovascular diseases using a nanomedicine approach.