To test the hypothesis that desmoglein-2 is required for efficient angiogenesis of N-MVECS that is lacing in SSc, we transiently transfected the three SSc-MVEC lines with DSG2. Immunofluorescence analysis of DSG2-transfected SSc-MVECs showed significantly increased levels of desmoglein-2 and integrin-beta 8 expression along with significantly increased desmoglein-2/integrin-beta 8 colocalization (figure 6B and table 2). Here, DSG2 is linked to systemic sclerosis.