VEGF与肿瘤血管生成及其在抗肿瘤药物开发中的应用

肿瘤血管生成在肿瘤的形成和转移过程中起到很重要的作用,众多的血管生成因子和抑制因子在肿瘤血管生成中起到调控作用,而血管生成因子（VEGF）是其中很重要的一类,通过研究其在肿瘤血管形成过程的调节机制,找到了一条有效的预防和治疗肿瘤的新途径。本文就肿瘤血管生成、VEGF家族的特性、VEGF在抗肿瘤药物开发中的应用做一综述。     

斑马鱼在抗肿瘤血管生成研究中的应用

近年来,斑马鱼作为一种新的模式生物,在胚胎的分子发育机制、疾病模型的构建以及药物筛选等研究中受到了广泛重视。随着先进的基因诱导技术和共聚焦显微观察技术的发展,斑马鱼已经在抗肿瘤血管生成药物研究中得到广泛应用。就斑马鱼在抗肿瘤血管生成药物筛选及其在肿瘤血管生成机制方面研究的应用作一综述。     

以VEGF及VEGFR2为靶位的抗肿瘤血管生成主动免疫治疗的研究进展

肿瘤细胞通过刺激新生血管生成来满足对营养及供氧的不断增长的需求,因此,肿瘤组织生长对于新生血管形成的依赖性使得抗血肿瘤管生成已经成为肿瘤学基础研究与临床治疗领域中最吸引人的策略之一.在众多的促血管生成因子中,血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)及其受体VEGFR2(鼠和人中也分别称为Flk-1和KDR)对于与肿瘤生长、转移及复发相关的血管生成是至关重要的.此外,通过打破肿瘤组织自身介导的免疫耐受与逃避,主动免疫治疗已成为一种崭新的抗肿瘤治疗方法.通过将这两种策略联合应用,抗血管生成主动免疫治疗使得更加有效地抑制肿瘤血管生成成为可能.这种免疫治疗与抗血管生成的联合应用有望成为一种有良好前景的研究方案.本文总结了通过打破VEGF/VEGFR2信号通路实现的抗肿瘤血管生成主动免疫治疗方面最新研究进展.本文讨论了旨在抑制血管生成的三种不同形式的抗肿瘤疫苗-细胞疫苗、蛋白质/多肽疫苗及基因/DNA疫苗,以及这一领域未来的研究方向.     

抗VEGF/VEGFR靶向肿瘤血管药物的研究进展

研究表明,肿瘤的生长转移和新血管的生成有密切关系,其中血管内皮细胞生长因子(vascular endothelial growth factor,VEGF)及其信号途径在肿瘤血管生成中起关键作用。阻断该途径的任何环节均可有效抑制肿瘤血管的生成,进而抑制肿瘤的生长和转移。近年来,已有多种以VEGF/VEGFR为靶点的抗肿瘤血管生成药物投入临床应用,其中bevacizumab为第一个获批上市的抗肿瘤血管生成药物。继bevacizumab后,一种以基因工程手段获得的人Fc融合蛋白Zaltrap也成功在美国上市,这种杂交分子的药代动力学明显优于单克隆抗体,能更好的遏制肿瘤血管的发生并消退已形成的肿瘤血管。在肿瘤的临床治疗中,Zaltrap比bevacizumab显示出更大的优势。此外,VEGFC/D Trap及小分子酪氨酸激酶抑制剂也能有效抑制肿瘤血管的生成。在此对以VEGF/VEGFR为靶点的抗肿瘤血管生成药物进行综述。     

几种与肿瘤血管生成有关的调控因子研究进展

肿瘤血管能够导致肿瘤疯狂生长,也是肿瘤细胞扩散和转移的秘密通道。因此对肿瘤血管的生成的研究就成为了当前研究的热点。本文对VEGF、MMP、EGFR、bFGF等重要的促血管生成因子与肿瘤血管生成、生长关系的临床证明、病理组织学研究、基因学研究以及以此为靶点的药物治疗的研究现状,尤其是中药治疗研究情况作综述。     

以VEGF及VEGFR为靶点的抗肿瘤血管生成治疗研究进展

VEGF和VEGFR因其在肿瘤血管生成中的重要作用,已成为肿瘤生物治疗的又一个重要靶点。通过基因治疗,单克隆抗体,小分子抑制物,可溶性受体及导向治疗,或使VEGF和VEGFR表达减少,或阻断其信号转导通路,或耗竭肿瘤细胞产生的VEGF,达到抑制血管新生,切断肿瘤血供,抑制肿瘤生长,发展及转移的目的。     

血管内皮生长因子和抗肿瘤血管新生药物研究进展

肿瘤的生长与迁移离不开新血管的形成,这使得抗血管新生成为肿瘤治疗的重要途径之一。血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）是针对内皮细胞作用最强、特异性最高的血管新生促进因子,因而VEGF是抗肿瘤治疗的重要靶点。我们简要介绍了VEGF的一些生物学特点及肿瘤血管新生,着重介绍了一些抗血管新生药物的最新研究成果及其临床应用。     

抗肿瘤血管生成治疗的研究进展及应对策略

抗血管生成疗法作为癌症治疗的重要方法之一,能够显著抑制肿瘤的生长与转移。然而,在临床应用中仍无法避免抗血管生成药物耐药性的产生,且目前对其耐药机制的研究尚不完善,严重阻碍了临床治疗进程。因此,基于抗血管生成药物耐药机制的研究,寻找新的靶点,以及整合新的治疗方案,对于改善肿瘤的临床治疗效果意义重大。基于此,本文主要从血管生成在肿瘤发展中的作用机制、抗血管生成治疗药物的应用现状及其介导的耐药机制、未来的研究策略等方面综述了抗肿瘤血管生成治疗的最新研究进展。     

血管内皮生长因子-C与肿瘤细胞转移

血管内皮生长因子(vascular endothelial growth factor,VEGF)C通过与其受体VEGFR2／VEGFR3结合,影响到肿瘤生长、肿瘤外周血管生成、淋巴血管形成、肿瘤表面积,促进肿瘤细胞从原发部位通过血液以及淋巴系统转移到其他器官,是引起肿瘤治疗失败的主要原因之一。阻碍VEGF-C与受体的结合可以降低肿瘤细胞的转移性,为肿瘤治疗提供了一个新的靶点。     

一种新的肿瘤血管生成模型

通过脂质体介导 gfp表达质粒转移及G418筛选获得了稳定表达 gfp的小鼠膀胱移行细胞癌细胞株BTT GFP。利用 gfp作为肿瘤细胞的标记 ,结合罗丹明标记的葡聚糖尾静脉注射作血管造影 ,建立了一种新的肿瘤模型 ,具有简便、可靠、无创伤的优点 ,特别是可以通过荧光显微镜动态观察肿瘤转移病灶形成最早期阶段肿瘤细胞生长与肿瘤局部宿主血管的变化。利用新型鼠耳肿瘤模型观察到移植的肿瘤细胞会主动向宿主血管迁移 ,当肿瘤生长至仅 0 .3mm直径大小时即可见血管生成。免疫组织化学染色观察到肿瘤内新生血管SMA及CD31染色阳性 ;肿瘤细胞不仅高水平表达VEGF ,也高水平表达VEGF的受体Flk 1。提示肿瘤局部存在VEGF自分泌与旁分泌通路 ,肿瘤细胞高水平表达VEGF是新生血管生成的主要原因     

R-Ras Protein Inhibits Autophosphorylation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 in Endothelial Cells and Suppresses Receptor Activation in Tumor Vasculature

Abnormal angiogenesis is associated with a broad range of medical conditions, including cancer. The formation of neovasculature with functionally defective blood vessels significantly impacts tumor progression, metastasis, and the efficacy of anticancer therapies. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) potently induces vascular permeability and vessel growth in the tumor microenvironment, and its inhibition normalizes tumor vasculature. In contrast, the signaling of the small GTPase R-Ras inhibits excessive angiogenic growth and promotes the maturation of regenerating blood vessels. R-Ras signaling counteracts VEGF-induced vessel sprouting, permeability, and invasive activities of endothelial cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of R-Ras on VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) activation by VEGF, the key mechanism for angiogenic stimulation. We show that tyrosine phosphorylation of VEGFR2 is significantly elevated in the tumor vasculature and dermal microvessels of VEGF-injected skin in R-Ras knockout mice. In cultured endothelial cells, R-Ras suppressed the internalization of VEGFR2, which is required for full activation of the receptor by VEGF. Consequently, R-Ras strongly suppressed autophosphorylation of the receptor at all five major tyrosine phosphorylation sites. Conversely, silencing of R-Ras resulted in increased VEGFR2 phosphorylation. This effect of R-Ras on VEGFR2 was, at least in part, dependent on vascular endothelial cadherin. These findings identify a novel function of R-Ras to control the response of endothelial cells to VEGF and suggest an underlying mechanism by which R-Ras regulates angiogenesis.     

Vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a prime regulator of endothelial cell proliferation, angiogenesis, vasculogenesis and vascular permeability. Its activity is mediated by the high affinity tyrosine kinase receptors, KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-1. In this article, recently discovered structural, molecular and biological properties of VEGF are described. Among the topics discussed are VEGF and VEGF receptor structure and bioactivity, the regulation of VEGF expression, the role of VEGF and its receptors in vascular development, and the involvement of VEGF and its receptors in normal and pathological (ocular and tumor) angiogenesis.     

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 Activates ADP-ribosylation Factor 1 to Promote Endothelial Nitric-oxide Synthase Activation and Nitric Oxide Release from Endothelial Cells

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces angiogenesis and regulates endothelial function via production and release of nitric oxide (NO), an important signaling molecule. The molecular basis leading to NO production involves phosphatidylinositiol-3 kinase (PI3K), Akt, and endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS) activation. In this study, we have examined whether small GTP-binding proteins of the ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) family act as molecular switches to regulate signaling cascades activated by VEGF in endothelial cells. Our results show that this growth factor can promote the rapid and transient activation of ARF1. In endothelial cells, this GTPase is present on dynamic plasma membrane ruffles. Inhibition of ARF1 expression, using RNA interference, markedly impaired VEGF-dependent eNOS phosphorylation and NO production by preventing the activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling axis. Furthermore, our data indicate that phosphorylation of Tyr⁸⁰¹, on VEGF receptor 2, is essential for activating Src- and ARF1-dependent signaling events leading to NO release from endothelial cells. Lastly, this mediator is known to regulate a broad variety of endothelial cell functions. Depletion of ARF1 markedly inhibits VEGF-dependent increase of vascular permeability as well as capillary tubule formation, a process important for angiogenesis. Taken together, our data indicate that ARF1 is a novel modulator of VEGF-stimulated NO release and signaling in endothelial cells.     

斑马鱼VEGF基因的siRNA表达载体构建、有效序列筛选及其对基因表达的干预性研究

为探索小干扰RNA（small interfering RNA,siRNA）表达质粒在研究斑马鱼血管内皮生长因子（vascular endothelial growth factor,VEGF）基因调控网络中的应用,构建了4个以斑马鱼VEGF基因为靶点的siRNA表达载体pSI—VEGF、pS2-VEGF、pS3-VEGF及pS4-VEGF。通过显微注射的方法将载体导入1-2细胞期斑马鱼体内,于胚胎发育的48h采用RT-PCR的方法检测VEGF基因的表达量,研究不同干扰序列对VEGF基因表达的干涉作用。结果显示,成功地构建了siRNA表达载体。针对不同位点的寡核苷酸序列抑制VEGF基因表达的效率有显著差异,其中注射了ps1-VEGF的胚胎出现了心包膜水肿、血流速度减慢、循环红细胞堆积等症状,同时肠下静脉、节间血管以及其它血管出现不同程度的发育缺陷。实验结果说明,pS1-VEGF可引起斑马鱼胚胎血管发育缺陷。     

Vascular endothelial growth factor--structure and functions

Vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF), originally described as a vascular permeability factor, is currently known as one of the main factors which regulate angiogenesis. It plays an important role in the regulation of normal as well as pathological angiogenesis. In this paper we try to shortly review the actual knowledge on VEGF protein family, its expression, VEGF receptors and role of VEGF in signal transduction. The aim of this review is also to summarize recent achievements in research on biological functions of vascular endothelial growth factor and their clinical applications.     

Vascular endothelial cells: Targets for studying the activity of hair follicle cell-produced VEGF

Fetal bovine aortic endothelial cells (FBAEC) were exposed to purified fractions of conditioned medium from cultures of hair dermal papilla cells (DPC) to determine the existence of any vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-like paracrine activity of the latter. Such fractions were tested for stimulation of growth and migration of cultured FBAEC. In addition, VEGF secretion by DPC was measured by radioassay of VEGF receptors using FBAEC as target cells. The results showed that stimulation of FBAEC proliferation and migration following exposure to purified conditioned medium was dose-dependent. Radioreceptor assays of recombinant VEGF and purified DPC-conditioned medium showed competitive VEGF binding in FBAEC.Abbreviations CM conditioned medium - DMEM Dulbecco's modified eagle's medium - DPC dermal papilla cells - EDTA ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid - FBAEC fetal bovine aortic endothelial cells - FCS fetal calf serum - VEGF vascular endothelial growth factor     

Protein-tyrosine Phosphatase 4A3 (PTP4A3) Promotes Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Signaling and Enables Endothelial Cell Motility

Protein-tyrosine phosphatase 4A3 (PTP4A3) is highly expressed in multiple human cancers and is hypothesized to have a critical, albeit poorly defined, role in the formation of experimental tumors in mice. PTP4A3 is broadly expressed in many tissues so the cellular basis of its etiological contributions to carcinogenesis may involve both tumor and stromal cells. In particular, PTP4A3 is expressed in the tumor vasculature and has been proposed to be a direct target of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling in endothelial cells. We now provide the first in vivo experimental evidence that PTP4A3 participates in VEGF signaling and contributes to the process of pathological angiogenesis. Colon tumor tissue isolated from Ptp4a3-null mice revealed reduced tumor microvessel density compared with wild type controls. Additionally, vascular cells derived from Ptp4a3-null tissues exhibited decreased invasiveness in an ex vivo wound healing assay. When primary endothelial cells were isolated and cultured in vitro, Ptp4a3-null cells displayed greatly reduced migration compared with wild type cells. Exposure to VEGF led to an increase in Src phosphorylation in wild type endothelial cells, a response that was completely ablated in Ptp4a3-null cells. In loss-of-function studies, reduced VEGF-mediated migration was also observed when human endothelial cells were treated with a small molecule inhibitor of PTP4A3. VEGF-mediated in vivo vascular permeability was significantly attenuated in PTP4A3-deficient mice. These findings strongly support a role for PTP4A3 as an important contributor to endothelial cell function and as a multimodal target for cancer therapy and mitigating VEGF-regulated angiogenesis.     

Vascular endothelial growth factor: Therapeutic possibilities and challenges for the treatment of ischemia

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a notable chemokine that plays critical roles in angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. The contemporary body of literature contains a substantial amount of information regarding its chemical properties as well as its fundamental role in vascular development. Studies strongly indicate its potential use as a therapeutic agent, especially in the vascular restoration of injured and ischemic tissues. VEGF therapy could be most beneficial for diseases whose pathologies revolve around tissue inflammation and necrosis, such as myocardial infarction and stroke, as well as ischemic bowel diseases such as acute mesenteric ischemia and necrotizing enterocolitis. However, a delicate balance exists between the therapeutic benefits of VEGF and the hazards of tumor growth and neo-angiogenesis. Effective future research surrounding VEGF may allow for the development of effective therapies for ischemia which simultaneously limit its more deleterious side effects. This review will: (1) summarize the current understanding of the molecular aspects and function of VEGF, (2) review potential benefits of its use in medical therapy, (3) denote its role in tumorigenesis and inflammation when overexpressed, and (4) elucidate the qualities which make it a viable compound of study for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.     

Vascular endothelial growth factor is involved in neoangiogenesis in Hirudo medicinalis (Annelida,Hirudinea)

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is fundamental in vertebrates for correct development of blood vessels. However, there are only few data about the presence of VEGF in invertebrates. In this study the role of VEGF in neovessel formation is investigated in Hirudo medicinalis. The leech is able to respond to administration of human VEGF by formation of new vessels. The response of H. medicinalis to this growth factor is explained by the presence of two specific VEGF-like receptors (Flt-1/VEGFR-1 and Flk-1/VEGFR-2) as demonstrated by immunohistochemistry and biochemical analysis. The VEGF-like produced by this annelid following surgical stimulation determines not only blood vessel formation, proliferation of vascular endothelial cells but also an increase of cytoplasmic calcium levels. The administration of specific VEGF receptor antibodies can inhibit angiogenesis in leeches previously stimulated with VEGF.     

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) isoform regulation of early forebrain development

This work was designed to determine the role of the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF) isoforms during early neuroepithelial development in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), specifically in the forebrain. An emerging model of interdependence between neural and vascular systems includes VEGF, with its dual roles as a potent angiogenesis factor and neural regulator. Although a number of studies have implicated VEGF in CNS development, little is known about the role that the different VEGF isoforms play in early neurogenesis. We used a mouse model of disrupted VEGF isoform expression that eliminates the predominant brain isoform, VEGF164, and expresses only the diffusible form, VEGF120. We tested the hypothesis that VEGF164 plays a key role in controlling neural precursor populations in developing cortex. We used microarray analysis to compare gene expression differences between wild type and VEGF120 mice at E9.5, the primitive stem cell stage of the neuroepithelium. We quantified changes in PHH3-positive nuclei, neural stem cell markers (Pax6 and nestin) and the Tbr2-positive intermediate progenitors at E11.5 when the neural precursor population is expanding rapidly. Absence of VEGF164 (and VEGF188) leads to reduced proliferation without an apparent effect on the number of Tbr2-positive cells. There is a corresponding reduction in the number of mitotic spindles that are oriented parallel to the ventricular surface relative to those with a vertical or oblique angle. These results support a role for the VEGF isoforms in supporting the neural precursor population of the early neuroepithelium.