ABSTRACT
I never intended to study endothelial cells. Having received a PhD in microbiology, I wanted to learn mammalian cell biology and spent two wonderful years in the lab of John Buchanan at M.I.T. studying the role of proteases in cellular growth control under the tutelage of Lan Bo Chen, who was also working for Buchanan. At the time (1975), the topic of the nature and function of growth factors was very compelling. In fact, it compelled me to leave for the Salk Institute, right next to the beach in San Diego, and start a second fellowship in the lab of Denis Gospodarowicz. Denis had only recently published the first article on the purification of what he called fibroblast growth factor (FGF) (1) and was testing every cell he could get his hands on to find out which ones responded best to FGF. As I joined the lab, the answer emerged that endothelial cells were among the most responsive cells to growth stimulation by FGF.
