Ang hydrolyzes cellular RNA, resulting in modulated levels of protein synthesis and interacts with DNA causing a promoter-like increase in the expression of rRNA.

[5] Ang binds to actin of both smooth muscle and endothelial cells to form complexes that activate proteolytic cascades which upregulate the production of proteases and plasmin that degrade the laminin and fibronectin layers of the basement membrane.

[6] Degradation of the basement membrane and extracellular matrix allows the endothelial cells to penetrate and migrate into the perivascular tissue.

[5] Signal transduction pathways activated by Ang interactions at the cellular membrane of endothelial cells produce extracellular signal-related kinase1/2 (ERK1/2) and protein kinase B/Akt.

[5][7][10] However, angiogenin is unique among the many proteins that are involved in angiogenesis in that it is also an enzyme with an amino acid sequence 33% identical to that of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase A).

[15] Inhibition of Ang affects the ability of HeLa cells to proliferate, which proposes an effective target for possible therapies.

[14] Angiogenin expression in Parkinson's disease is dramatically decreased in the presence of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) aggregations.