#10831 NTR:maintenance of retinal blood vessels

[Jim Hu]

def:The process in which the blood vessels in the retina are maintained.
synonym: maintenance of choriocapillaris[NARROW]

based on CACAO annotation for http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3484459/
VEGF is needed to maintain the retinal blood vessels for cone cells. Withdrawal of VEGF leads to degeneration of the vessels. This may involve a balance between angiogenesis and some turnover process, but we can't tell that from what I know.

Could be is_a GO:0061304 ! retinal blood vessel morphogenesis depending on whether morphogenesis includes maintenance.

[Paola Roncaglia]

Hi Jim,

I'm wondering if this term should be connected to 'retina homeostasis' (because 'retina blood vessel' is part_of 'retina' in UBERON). I'll check with David and Harold (about morphogenesis too).

Thanks,
Paola

[Jim Hu]

Happy to defer to those who actually know something!

[Paola Roncaglia]

Hi Jim (and David),
I added this term:

[Term]
id: GO:0097601
name: retina blood vessel maintenance
namespace: biological_process
def: "A retina homeostatic process preventing the degeneration of a retina blood vessel." [GOC:jh2, PMID:23093773]
synonym: "maintenance of choriocapillaris" NARROW []
synonym: "maintenance of retina blood vessel" EXACT []
synonym: "maintenance of retinal blood vessel" EXACT []
is_a: GO:0001895 ! retina homeostasis

Now assigning to David H to see if the term should be connected to 'retinal blood vessel morphogenesis'.
David, assign back to me for any edits.

Thanks,
Paola

[David Hill]

Hi Paola,

I would not relate this term to the morphogenesis term. Those terms specifically refer to the shaping of a structure as part of its development. This term refers to the maintenance of the structure after it is formed. If anything it might be related to remodeling.

-David

[Paola Roncaglia]

Thanks David. Not sure about linking 'retina blood vessel maintenance' to 'blood vessel remodeling' though:

'retina blood vessel maintenance':
A retina homeostatic process preventing the degeneration of a retina blood vessel.

'blood vessel remodeling':
The reorganization or renovation of existing blood vessels.
Its parent 'tissue remodeling' has a more explicit definition:
The reorganization or renovation of existing tissues. This process can either change the characteristics of a tissue such as in blood vessel remodeling, or result in the dynamic equilibrium of a tissue such as in bone remodeling.

Preventing a tissue from degenerating sounds a bit different than actively rearranging or renovating it, so I'd be more comfortable with not linking the two terms. But we can revisit of course. Closing for now - thanks.

Paola