Upregulation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 in the Spinal Cord of Lewis Rats with Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

We investigated the spatiotemporal expression of vascular endothelial growth factorreceptor–3 (VEGFR-3) in the spinal cord of Lewis rats with experimental autoimmuneencephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for multiple sclerosis. VEGFR-3 mRNA and proteinwere constitutively expressed in gray matter neurons and in a few white matter astrocytes.Induction of VEGFR-3 occurred predominantly in perivascular infiltrated macrophages in thespinal cord white matter during the inductive phase of EAE. VEGFR-3 expression was alsoinduced in activated microglial cells in the gray and white matter, mainly in the peakphase. In addition, reactive astrocytes in the white matter, but not in the gray matter,expressed VEGFR-3 as disease severity increased. These data suggest that VEGFR-3 isinvolved in the recruitment of monocytic macrophages and in glial reactions duringEAE.