Amongst the most recent studies, the expression of EC-specific miRNA-126, located within the EGF-like domain-containing protein-7 (EGFL7) gene, and known to block VEGF-negative regulators such as the 9prout-related protein-1 (SPRED1) and phosphoinositide-3 kinase regulatory subunit-2 (PIK3R2), has been evaluated in ECs from SSc patients [69]. Here, SPRED1 is linked to systemic sclerosis.