Stalk cells

The diligent creators of new blood vessels, stalk cells divide quickly to create the hollow tubes that transport blood throughout the body. They ensure that vessels are stable and functional by following the leading tip cells and using their own mitochondria to produce energy and raw materials for growth. Stalk cells are crucial to angiogenesis, the process by which the body creates new blood arteries from preexisting ones. As such, they are interesting targets for therapeutic intervention because they are necessary for both normal processes like wound healing and diseases like cancer.