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Genetic Variations in Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase and Their Contributions to Human Disease
Author(s) -
GERRITSEN MARY E.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
microcirculation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.793
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1549-8719
pISSN - 1073-9688
DOI - 10.1080/10739680590896081
Subject(s) - enos , vascular endothelial growth factor , vascular disease , disease , vascular endothelial growth factor b , biology , phenotype , medicine , nitric oxide , bioinformatics , vascular endothelial growth factor a , pathology , nitric oxide synthase , gene , cancer research , endocrinology , genetics , vegf receptors
This review addresses a rapidly growing area of vascular biology, i.e. genomic variations in vascular genes that underlie different human phenotypes. Two of the most important molecular in vascular biology, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) are discussed. Variations in the eNOS gene have been correlated with a number of human diseases including hypertension, coronary vasospasm, smoking dependent risk of coronary disease, myocardial infarction and placental disruption. Similarly, variations in the VEGF gene have been associated with increased risk of various cancers, DiGeorge syndrome, psoriasis, diabetic renal disease and amyotropic lateral sclerosis. Understanding the molecular basis of these genetic variations and how contribute to the pathophysiology provides new and important insights into human disease.