Theprocessofnewbloodvesselformationfrompre-existingonesiscalledangiogenesis.Beyond playing a critical role in the physiological development of the vascular system, angiogenesis is a well-recognised hallmark of cancer. Unbiased system-wide approaches are required to complement the current knowledge, and intimately understand the molecular mechanisms regulating this process in physiological and pathological conditions. In this review we describe the cellular and molecular dynamics regulating the physiological growth of vessels and their deregulation in cancer, survey in vitro and in vivo models currently exploited to investigate various aspects of angiogenesis and describe state-of-the-art and most widespread methods andtechnologies in MSshotgunproteomics. Finally, we focus on current applications of MS to better understand endothelial cell behaviour and propose how modern proteomics can impact on angiogenesis research.
