The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family angiogenic factors in health and disease 英文参考文献.docVIP

Protein family review The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family: angiogenic factors in health and disease David IR Holmes*? and Ian Zachary* Addresses: *BHF Laboratories and The Rayne Institute, Department of Medicine, University College London, 5 University Street, London WC1E 6JJ, UK. ?Ark Therapeutics Ltd, 1 Fitzroy Mews, London W1T 6DE, UK. Correspondence: Ian Zachary. E-mail: I.Zachary@ucl.ac.uk Published: 1 February 2005 Genome Biology 2005, 6:209 The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at /2005/6/2/209 ? 2005 BioMed Central Ltd Summary Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are a family of secreted polypeptides with a highly conserved receptor-binding cystine-knot structure similar to that of the platelet-derived growth factors. VEGF-A, the founding member of the family, is highly conserved between animals as evolutionarily distant as fish and mammals. In vertebrates, VEGFs act through a family of cognate receptor tyrosine kinases in endothelial cells to stimulate blood-vessel formation. VEGF-A has important roles in mammalian vascular development and in diseases involving abnormal growth of blood vessels; other VEGFs are also involved in the development of lymphatic vessels and disease-related angiogenesis. Invertebrate homologs of VEGFs and VEGF receptors have been identified in fly, nematode and jellyfish, where they function in developmental cell migration and neurogenesis. The existence of VEGF-like molecules and their receptors in simple invertebrates without a vascular system indicates that this family of growth factors emerged at a very early stage in the evolution of multicellular organisms to mediate primordial developmental functions. The formation of a vascular system is a prerequisite for ver- known as c-Fos-induced growth factor, FIGF), and the viral VEGF-Es encoded by strains D1701, NZ2