Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Induces Endothelial Fenestrations In Vitro

Abstract. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important regulator of vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, and vascular permeability. In contrast to its transient expression during the formation of new blood vessels, VEGF and its receptors are continuously and highly expressed in some adult tissues, such as the kidney glomerulus and choroid plexus. This suggests that VEGF produced by the epithelial cells of these tissues might be involved in the induction or maintenance of fenestrations in adjacent endothelial cells expressing the VEGF receptors. Here we describe a defined in vitro culture system where fenestrae formation was induced in adrenal cortex capillary endothelial cells by VEGF, but not by fibroblast growth factor. A strong induction of endothelial fenestrations was observed in cocultures of endothelial cells with choroid plexus epithelial cells, or mammary epithelial cells stably transfected with cDNAs for VEGF 120 or 164, but not with untransfected cells. These results demonstrate that, in these cocultures, VEGF is sufficient to induce fenestrations in vitro. Identical results were achieved when the epithelial cells were replaced by an epithelial-derived basal lamina-type extracellular matrix, but not with collagen alone. In this defined system, VEGF-mediated induction of fenestrae was always accompanied by an increase in the number of fused diaphragmed caveolae-like vesicles. Caveolae, but not fenestrae, were labeled with a caveolin-1–specific antibody both in vivo and in vitro. VEGF stimulation led to VEGF receptor tyrosine phosphorylation, but no change in the distribution, phosphorylation, or protein level of caveolin-1 was observed. We conclude that VEGF in the presence of a basal lamina-type extracellular matrix specifically induces fenestrations in endothelial cells. This defined in vitro system will allow further study of the signaling mechanisms involved in fenestrae formation, modification of caveolae, and vascular permeability.     

用改进的重叠PCR引入血管内皮生长因子基因突变

血管内皮生长因子（vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF）的PCR产物克隆于T载体上,经转化JM109感受态菌株后,随机挑取8个白斑菌落,混合后制成混合模板.采用3条引物,做两轮重叠PCR反应,获得了VEGF的突变基因,经PCR鉴定,酶切鉴定和测序分析表明所得基因为目的产物.实践证明这种突变方法简单快速,为下一步实验大量引入突变奠定了实验基础.     

Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 (FGF-2) Induces Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Expression in the Endothelial Cells of Forming Capillaries: An Autocrine Mechanism Contributing to Angiogenesis

FGF-2 and VEGF are potent angiogenesis inducers in vivo and in vitro. Here we show that FGF-2 induces VEGF expression in vascular endothelial cells through autocrine and paracrine mechanisms. Addition of recombinant FGF-2 to cultured endothelial cells or upregulation of endogenous FGF-2 results in increased VEGF expression. Neutralizing monoclonal antibody to VEGF inhibits FGF-2–induced endothelial cell proliferation. Endogenous 18-kD FGF-2 production upregulates VEGF expression through extracellular interaction with cell membrane receptors; high-M_r FGF-2 (22–24-kD) acts via intracellular mechanism(s). During angiogenesis induced by FGF-2 in the mouse cornea, the endothelial cells of forming capillaries express VEGF mRNA and protein. Systemic administration of neutralizing VEGF antibody dramatically reduces FGF-2-induced angiogenesis. Because occasional fibroblasts or other cell types present in the corneal stroma show no significant expression of VEGF mRNA, these findings demonstrate that endothelial cell-derived VEGF is an important autocrine mediator of FGF-2-induced angiogenesis. Thus, angiogenesis in vivo can be modulated by a novel mechanism that involves the autocrine action of vascular endothelial cell-derived FGF-2 and VEGF.     

KRIT1 Protein Depletion Modifies Endothelial Cell Behavior via Increased Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Signaling

Disruption of endothelial cell-cell contact is a key event in many cardiovascular diseases and a characteristic of pathologically activated vascular endothelium. The CCM (cerebral cavernous malformation) family of proteins (KRIT1 (Krev-interaction trapped 1), PDCD10, and CCM2) are critical regulators of endothelial cell-cell contact and vascular homeostasis. Here we show novel regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling in KRIT1-depleted endothelial cells. Loss of KRIT1 and PDCD10, but not CCM2, increases nuclear β-catenin signaling and up-regulates VEGF-A protein expression. In KRIT1-depleted cells, increased VEGF-A levels led to increased VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) activation and subsequent alteration of cytoskeletal organization, migration, and barrier function and to in vivo endothelial permeability in KRIT1-deficient animals. VEGFR2 activation also increases β-catenin phosphorylation but is only partially responsible for KRIT1 depletion-dependent disruption of cell-cell contacts. Thus, VEGF signaling contributes to modifying endothelial function in KRIT1-deficient cells and microvessel permeability in Krit1^+/− mice; however, VEGF signaling is likely not the only contributor to disrupted endothelial cell-cell contacts in the absence of KRIT1.     

血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)乳液法电纺纤维膜的体外研究

目的:研究担载血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)的乳液法电纺纤维膜的亲水性能、外观形态和机械性能,纤维膜中VEGF的包封率和体外释放动力学,为评价其能否应用于血管再生领域的研究奠定基础。方法:将VEGF水溶液通过W/O乳液法制备成缓释VEGF的生物可降解的丙交酯-乙交酯共聚物(PLGA)静电纺丝纤维膜,对该纤维膜的接触角、外观形态、机械性能进行表征,Elisa法测定该纤维膜的体外14天的释放行为,分别观察纤维膜释放0天、7天、14天后的电镜图。结果:加入VEGF后,纤维膜的接触角由140.0°减小到136.1°,亲水性增强,具有类似细胞外基质(ECMs)网状结构和良好的力学性能,纤维膜第1天的突释不超过载药量的50%,电镜图下显示纤维膜释放1周时纤维发生断裂。结论:通过乳液法制备的担载VEGF的电纺纤维膜具有良好的物理性能,能够持续缓释VEGF,可作为血管再生的组织工程支架进行深入研究。     

Anti-human Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Antibody Selection for Immunohistochemical Staining of Proliferating Blood Vessels

Nine commercially available vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibodies were investigated for their ability to immunostain vascular malformations (VMs) with or without immature capillary proliferation. First, all antibodies were optimized for their performance in IHC, with placenta and colon adenocarcinoma as positive control tissues. Five antibodies were regarded as unfit for VEGF immunostaining based on poor immunostaining criteria. Subsequently, Western blot analysis using VEGF rabbit polyclonal antibody (Thermo RB-9031) revealed a clear 45-kDa band in tissue extracts from VMs with immature capillary proliferation and a high Ki67-labeling index, whereas tissue extracts from mature VMs without microvascular proliferation and no Ki67-labeling index demonstrated only a very weak 45-kDa band. In contrast, two VEGF antibodies, including the popular Santa Cruz A-20, revealed bands at 45 kDa of similar intensity in tissue extracts from both types of VMs. Staining characteristics of the 45-kDa band were reflected in the results obtained in IHC. (J Histochem Cytochem 58:109–118, 2010)     

Regulation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 (Flk-1) Expression in Vascular Endothelial Cells

We have previously reported the existence of a synergistic interaction between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in the induction of angiogenesisin vitro.Here we demonstrate that bFGF increases VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2/Flk-1) expression: mRNA levels were increased by 4.5- to 8.0-fold and total protein by 2.0- to 3.5-fold, in bovine microvascular endothelial (BME), aortic endothelial (BAE), and transformed fetal aortic (GM7373) endothelial cells. VEGF itself did not affect VEGFR-2 expression, and neither bFGF nor VEGF altered expression of FGF receptor-1. We also show that synergism occurs at the level of proliferation when this is measured in a three-dimensional but not in a conventional two-dimensional assay. Differences in the level of VEGFR-2 expression were also observed when cells were grown on or within collagen gels under different conditions: mRNA levels were lowest under sparse conditions, increased 20- to 26-fold at confluence, and increased even further (57-fold) when cells were cultured in suspension in three-dimensional collagen gels. Finally, a synergistic increase was seen in the level of expression of urokinase and urokinase receptor mRNAs when cells were exposed to bFGF and VEGF for 4 days. These findings demonstrate that the level of VEGFR-2 expression can be modulated by environmental factors including cytokines and the geometry of the culture conditions and provide some insight into the mechanisms of synergism between bFGF and VEGF in the induction of angiogenesisin vitro.     

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Promotes Assembly of the p130Cas Interactome to Drive Endothelial Chemotactic Signaling and Angiogenesis

p130Cas is a polyvalent adapter protein essential for cardiovascular development, and with a key role in cell movement. In order to identify the pathways by which p130Cas exerts its biological functions in endothelial cells we mapped the p130Cas interactome and its dynamic changes in response to VEGF using high-resolution mass spectrometry and reconstruction of protein interaction (PPI) networks with the aid of multiple PPI databases. VEGF enriched the p130Cas interactome in proteins involved in actin cytoskeletal dynamics and cell movement, including actin-binding proteins, small GTPases and regulators or binders of GTPases. Detailed studies showed that p130Cas association of the GTPase-binding scaffold protein, IQGAP1, plays a key role in VEGF chemotactic signaling, endothelial polarization, VEGF-induced cell migration, and endothelial tube formation. These findings indicate a cardinal role for assembly of the p130Cas interactome in mediating the cell migratory response to VEGF in angiogenesis, and provide a basis for further studies of p130Cas in cell movement.     

血管内皮细胞生长因子研究进展

从不同侧面阐述了血管内皮细胞生长因子（VEGF）在新生血管形成中的作用.VEGF诱导新生血管形成,具有血管渗透性,是新生血管形成的主要调控者之一.VEGF mRNA不同剪接,形成5种VEGF变异体(isoform)即VEGF121-206.VEGF诱导新生血管的调控过程、拮抗VEGF成为大家竞相研究的领域.     

血管内皮生长因子与肿瘤

血管内皮生长因子是新近确定的一种具有旁分泌机制的生长因子,能特异作用于血管内皮细胞,促进其增殖及新生血管的形成,同时还有增加血管通透性的作用．由于其生物学活性与实体瘤的生长密切相关,因此对它的研究倍受关注,进展非常迅速．     

Effects of Hyperthyroidism on Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Apoptosis in Fetal Adrenal Glands

This study investigated the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), vascular density, and apoptosis in fetal rat adrenal glands with hyperthyroidism in late gestation. Twelve mature female Wistar albino rats with the same biological and physiological features were used for this study. Rats were divided into two groups: control and hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism was induced by daily subcutaneous injections of L-thyroxine (250 µg/kg) before pregnancy for 21 days and during pregnancy. Rats in the control and hyperthyroidism groups were caged according to the number of male rats. Zero day of pregnancy (Day 0) was indicated when the animals were observed to have microscopic sperm in vaginal smears. Pregnant rats were sacrificed on the 20th day of pregnancy; blood from each animal was collected to determine the concentrations of maternal adrenocorticotropic hormone and thyroxine. Rat fetuses were then quickly removed from the uterus, and the adrenal glands of the fetuses were dissected. VEGF expression, vascular density, and apoptosis were analyzed in fetal rat adrenal glands. Maternal serum levels of the ACTH and free thyroxine were significantly higher in the hyperthyroidism group than in the control group. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the number of VEGF positive cells and vessel density significantly increased in the hyperthyroidism rat fetal adrenal group compared with the control group. Hyperthyroidism did not change the fetal and placental weights and the number of fetuses. This study demonstrates that hyperthyroidism may have an effect on the development of rat adrenal glands mediated by VEGF expression, angiogenesis, and apoptosis.     

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Platelet (PF-4) Factor 4 Inputs Modulate Human Microvascular Endothelial Signaling in a Three-Dimensional Matrix Migration Context

The process of angiogenesis is under complex regulation in adult organisms, particularly as it often occurs in an inflammatory post-wound environment. As such, there are many impacting factors that will regulate the generation of new blood vessels which include not only pro-angiogenic growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor, but also angiostatic factors. During initial postwound hemostasis, a large initial bolus of platelet factor 4 is released into localized areas of damage before progression of wound healing toward tissue homeostasis. Because of its early presence and high concentration, the angiostatic chemokine platelet factor 4, which can induce endothelial anoikis, can strongly affect angiogenesis. In our work, we explored signaling crosstalk interactions between vascular endothelial growth factor and platelet factor 4 using phosphotyrosine-enriched mass spectrometry methods on human dermal microvascular endothelial cells cultured under conditions facilitating migratory sprouting into collagen gel matrices. We developed new methods to enable mass spectrometry-based phosphorylation analysis of primary cells cultured on collagen gels, and quantified signaling pathways over the first 48 h of treatment with vascular endothelial growth factor in the presence or absence of platelet factor 4. By observing early and late signaling dynamics in tandem with correlation network modeling, we found that platelet factor 4 has significant crosstalk with vascular endothelial growth factor by modulating cell migration and polarization pathways, centered around P38α MAPK, Src family kinases Fyn and Lyn, along with FAK. Interestingly, we found EphA2 correlational topology to strongly involve key migration-related signaling nodes after introduction of platelet factor 4, indicating an influence of the angiostatic factor on this ambiguous but generally angiogenic signal in this complex environment.Angiogenesis, the formation of blood vessels from pre-existing blood vessels, is a complex process essential for repairing injured tissue or supporting tissue growth. A great deal of work has been done to focus on understanding this phenomenon as it occurs in vivo, in particular with regard to its roles in embryonic development (1–5). In contrast to embryonic development, adult angiogenesis and inflammation are closely related phenomena that occur in vivo in a number of physiologically relevant processes. Inflammation lies at the crux of multiple physiological events in biological systems that precede the induction of angiogenesis: wound healing (6–8), chronic wounds (8), inflammatory disorders (9, 10), and cancer (9, 11, 12).Inflammatory reactions also confound tissue engineered implantable three-dimensional constructs that provide innovative clinical treatments of various diseases and injuries (13–17). As complex tissues become developed for applications in clinical trials, tissue vascularization for constructs of considerable size and volume is required for their survival (18, 19). Once implanted, these constructs will also experience significant inflammatory responses within their host''s local milieu (20, 21). These circumstances demonstrate the necessity for understanding the interactions between inflammation and angiogenesis, such as the development of predictive models (22). Elucidating specific intracellular mechanisms can provide insight for novel approaches in treatment of diseases as well as predicting responses to artificially engineered tissues.Recently, studies have shown that chemokines, which play a central role in inflammation, can influence the outcomes of angiogenesis (23–26) by promoting new blood vessel growth (e.g. CXCL1–3, CXCL5–8, CXCL12) or inhibiting its formation altogether (e.g. CXCL4, CXCL9–11, CXCL13) (26). In particular, a large body of information is available on platelet factor 4 (PF-4/CXCL4) and its ability to inhibit and even induce regression of angiogenesis. PF-4 is found throughout the adult body, at roughly 0.25–1.25 nm (2–10 ng/ml) in blood plasma, but as high as 25 μm in localized areas during wound healing (27, 28). Its ubiquitous presence, implication in cancer and vascular diseases, and use as a potential drug therapy have made PF-4 a key point of interest in influencing angiogenesis in vivo (27–30). In addition to inducing angiostasis, PF-4 can inhibit cell proliferation by halting S phase progression and reducing endothelial cell migration (25, 28, 30–32). Despite the wealth of information on PF-4 and its mechanistic effects on immune cells, scarce literature exists on the nature of the molecular signaling with endothelial cells to inhibit angiogenesis. Furthermore, the complexity of PF-4 mediated signaling and its potential to interact through multiple binding mechanisms makes it difficult to determine how PF-4 can interfere with angiogenesis (28, 29, 33, 34). Possible angiogenic signaling network interference mechanisms for PF-4 include the sequestration of growth factors and proteoglycans, antagonism of integrin-mediated signaling, or direct signaling through its chemokine receptor CXCR3, all of which have supporting evidence in previous literature (28). Along with the multiple mechanisms PF-4 may utilize for signaling, only limited studies on direct signaling elicited by PF-4 on endothelial cells have been reported; one of interest found that P38 MAPK can be activated via CXCR3 on endothelial cells cultured on plastic (35), whereas another, more definitive study showed PF-4 acting similarly to other CXCR3 ligands in activating PKA to prevent m-calpain-mediated rear de-adhesion of moving cells (36, 37). Furthermore, PF-4 could have variable sensitivities in different endothelial cell types because of heterogeneous expression of CXCR3 (38).In our study, we sought to develop an approach to assess network-level signaling interactions between PF-4 and the major angiogenic inducer vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)¹ within a contextually relevant 3-D angiogenesis platform, in a controlled environment to understand what role these two factors may play. We developed methods to reduce extracellular matrix contamination in our samples and were able to successfully use a two-step lysis method with a MS compatible detergent-based lysis buffer. By taking advantage of iTRAQ-based multiplexed quantitation, we were able to collect quantitative phosphoprotein signaling data from our system with early and late temporal resolution. Using correlation network methods to observe differences in our system, we found that simultaneous treatment with PF-4 and VEGF induced changes in migrational pathway topology when compared with VEGF treatment alone. Most often, these changes appeared as losses in correlations between different migrational signaling proteins. We found that several different signaling pathways involved with migration were affected, including central proteins P38α MAPK, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), and Src family kinases. Furthermore, we found statistically significant differences in tyrosine phosphorylation when HDMVECs were stimulated with VEGF and PF-4, as opposed to only VEGF. In addition, we were able to recapitulate previously reported findings on how PF-4 infers its angiostatic effects on endothelial cells. Surprisingly, our data set revealed EphA2 receptor as a central node for PF-4 signaling, indicating that it may possess a complementary role in the balance of angiogenic and angiostatic effects.To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at performing MS-based analysis of phosphotyrosine signaling networks within the context of an environment that is amenable to angiogenesis. Our work provides a step forward in applying high throughput and systems-level phosphoproteomics data collection to more physiologically relevant experimental conditions.     

Secretory Expression of Human Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF165) in Kluyveromyces lactis and Characterization of Its Biological Activity

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF165) is the best characterized member and most potent endothelial cell mitogenic factor...     

Annexin-1-mediated Endothelial Cell Migration and Angiogenesis Are Regulated by Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-induced Inhibition of miR-196a Expression

Endothelial cell migration induced in response to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an essential step of angiogenesis. It depends in part on the activation of the p38/MAPKAP kinase-2/LIMK1/annexin-A1 (ANXA1) signaling axis. In the present study, we obtained evidence indicating that miR-196a specifically binds to the 3'-UTR region of ANXA1 mRNA to repress its expression. In accordance with the role of ANXA1 in cell migration and angiogenesis, the ectopic expression of miR-196a is associated with decreased cell migration in wound closure assays, and the inhibitory effect of miR-196a is rescued by overexpressing ANXA1. This finding highlights the fact that ANXA1 is a required mediator of VEGF-induced cell migration. miR-196a also reduces the formation of lamellipodia in response to VEGF suggesting that ANXA1 regulates cell migration by securing the formation of lamellipodia at the leading edge of the cell. Additionally, in line with the fact that cell migration is an essential step of angiogenesis, the ectopic expression of miR-196a impairs the formation of capillary-like structures in a tissue-engineered model of angiogenesis. Here again, the effect of miR-196a is rescued by overexpressing ANXA1. Moreover, the presence of miR-196a impairs the VEGF-induced in vivo neo-vascularization in the Matrigel Plug assay. Interestingly, VEGF reduces the expression of miR-196a, which is associated with an increased level of ANXA1. Similarly, the inhibition of miR-196a with an antagomir results in an increased level of ANXA1. We conclude that the VEGF-induced decrease of miR-196a expression may participate to the angiogenic switch by maintaining the expression of ANXA1 to levels required to enable p38-ANXA1-dependent endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis in response to VEGF.