Structure and Function of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Its Related Proteins.
Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) is a highly specific mitogen promoting the formation of blood vessels in embryogenesis and wound healing. It is also a potent inducer of vascular permeability. It is a member of the cystine knot growth factor superfamily. A detailed structural and functional characterization of the interactions between VEGF and its receptors is a prerequisite for the design of molecule antagonists. These structural characterizations and biological properties make VEGF an important research object in the fields of neovascularization of ischemia tissues, prognosis of cancers, tumor metastasis, and the gene therapy.
Department of Microbiology,Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. guangwen@ecmu.org.cn
Xin
X
Pan
Guang-Wen
GW
Cao
Chong-Wei
CW
Ke
Xiang
X
He
Zhong-Tian
ZT
Qi