ANGPT1 and diabetes mellitus: Global deletion of Angpt1 from embryonic day 16.5 (to circumvent any adverse effects on early vascular development) is paralleled, in mice at 20 weeks’ diabetes duration, by increases in albuminuria and mesangial matrix expansion and glomerulosclerosis [14], suggesting that Angpt1 expression levels are important in the pathophysiology of diabetic glomerular disease and could confer protection against high-glucose-mediated glomerular capillary injury, serving as a ‘brake’ on vascular lesions.