Premium
The vascular endothelial growth factor family of polypeptides
Author(s) -
Ferrara Napoleone,
Houck Keith A.,
Jakeman Lyn B.,
Winer Jane,
Leung David W.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.240470305
Subject(s) - vascular endothelial growth factor b , biology , vascular endothelial growth factor , microbiology and biotechnology , messenger rna , in situ hybridization , vascular endothelial growth factor a , endothelial stem cell , vascular endothelial growth factor c , alternative splicing , growth factor , gene , genetics , vegf receptors , receptor , cancer research , in vitro
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was identified as a heparin‐binding polypeptide mitogen with a target cell specificity restricted to vascular endothelial cells. Molecular cloning reveals the existence of four species of VEGF having 121, 165, 189, and 206 amino acids. These have strikingly different secretion patterns, which suggests multiple physiological roles for this family of polypeptides. The two shorter forms are efficiently secreted, while the longer ones are mostly cell‐associated. Alternative splicing of mRNA, rather that transcription from different genes, is the mechanism for their generation. In situ hybridization reveals that the VEGF mRNA is widely distributed in most tissues and organs and expressed at particularly high levels in areas of active vascular proliferation, like the ovarian corpus luteum. Ligand autoradiography on rat tissue sections demonstrates that VEGF binding sites are associated with vascular endothelial cells of both fenestrated and non‐fenestrated capillaries and with the endothelium of large vessels, while no displaceable binding is evident on non‐endothelial cell types. These findings support the hypothesis that VEGF plays a highly specific role in the maintenance and in the induction of growth of vascular endothelial cells.