血管内皮生长因子及其受体在斑马鱼胚胎血管发育中的作用

血管内皮生长因子(vascular endothelial growth factor，VEGF)是一种多功能的细胞因子，其主要作用是促进血管内皮细胞增殖和增加血管通透性，是肿瘤及正常组织血管生成的中心调控因素。以VEGF为靶点的肿瘤血管靶向性治疗成为近几年肿瘤治疗的新途径。斑马鱼作为一种重要的模式生物，被广泛用于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。文章对斑马鱼作为心血管系统研究模型的优势及其血管研究方法做一阐述，重点对斑马鱼VEGF及其受体的最新研究进展做了介绍，并展望了其发展前景。

Roles of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Its Receptors in Embryonic Zebrafish Vascular Development

VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) is a highly specific endothelial cell mitogen and it is critical for vascularization of tissues, including tumors. The central role of VEGF in angiogenesis makes it an attractive target for anti-tumor therapy. Recently, zebrafish has been generally considered as an excellent model in case of drug screening, disease model establishment, and vertebrate embryonic development study. In this study, we documented the advantage of zebrafish as cardiovascular model and predicated the method for vascular observation. Emphasis was focused on the research progress of VEGF and its receptors in the recent years. The future of this research field was discussed, too.