It is a molecule normally found in the walls of blood vessels that attracts clotting and immune cells in other words, it causes inflammation.

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The dense network of blood vessels in reindeer noses is also essential for regulating the animal's internal body temperature like many mammals, reindeer don't sweat.

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Since porphyrins are taken up by blood vessels, some researchers reckon that they might be useful in treating atherosclerosis an inflammatory process that thickens and damages the vessel wall.

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Yet another organ model under the Physiome Project's umbrella is the micro-vasculature the vast network of tiny blood vessels that penetrate deep into almost all the nooks and crannies of the body.

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This approach has the advantage that the tissue has a functioning system of blood vessels to deliver nutrients, so it should be possible to grow tissue cultures more than a millimetre thick the current limit.

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Employing it in adult mice not only led to blood vessels that have lasted so far for over a year, but the blood vessels themselves are now surrounded with muscle tissue meaning that the body is able to use those vessels to properly regulate blood flow.

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