VEGFR-3 controls tip to stalk conversion at vessel fusion sites by reinforcing Notch signalling |
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Authors: | Tammela Tuomas Zarkada Georgia Nurmi Harri Jakobsson Lars Heinolainen Krista Tvorogov Denis Zheng Wei Franco Claudio A Murtomäki Aino Aranda Evelyn Miura Naoyuki Ylä-Herttuala Seppo Fruttiger Marcus Mäkinen Taija Eichmann Anne Pollard Jeffrey W Gerhardt Holger Alitalo Kari |
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Institution: | Molecular/Cancer Biology Laboratory, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Research Programs Unit and Department of Pathology, Haartman Institute, Biomedicum Helsinki, PO Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8), 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. |
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Abstract: | Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, involves specification of endothelial cells to tip cells and stalk cells, which is controlled by Notch signalling, whereas vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-2 and VEGFR-3 have been implicated in angiogenic sprouting. Surprisingly, we found that endothelial deletion of Vegfr3, but not VEGFR-3-blocking antibodies, postnatally led to excessive angiogenic sprouting and branching, and decreased the level of Notch signalling, indicating that VEGFR-3 possesses passive and active signalling modalities. Furthermore, macrophages expressing the VEGFR-3 and VEGFR-2 ligand VEGF-C localized to vessel branch points, and Vegfc heterozygous mice exhibited inefficient angiogenesis characterized by decreased vascular branching. FoxC2 is a known regulator of Notch ligand and target gene expression, and Foxc2(+/-);Vegfr3(+/-) compound heterozygosity recapitulated homozygous loss of Vegfr3. These results indicate that macrophage-derived VEGF-C activates VEGFR-3 in tip cells to reinforce Notch signalling, which contributes to the phenotypic conversion of endothelial cells at fusion points of vessel sprouts. |
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