However, the role of HIFs and NF-κB (another major transcription factor related to both TNFα and hypoxia) in the potential cross-link between pro-inflammatory TNFα and pro-angiogenic VEGFs remains to be defined in ECs whose activation and dysfunction are the hallmark of age-related vascular diseases (e.g., atherosclerosis [48] and neovascular macular degeneration [49]). Here, TNF is linked to atherosclerosis.