title: VEGF-related protein isolated from Vipera palestinae venom, promotes angiogenesis.
abstract: Therapeutic angiogenesis is one of the major approaches in designing new therapies for cardiovascular diseases. vpVEGF was purified from Vipera palestinae venom using two steps of reverse-phase HPLC. Structurally, vpVEGF belongs to the VEGF-F1 family of snake venom proteins, and potently stimulated dHMVEC proliferation in a VEGFR-2 dependent manner. This growth factor appeared to be a chemoattractant for migration of these cells and stimulated their radial migration in a collagen gel. The stimulatory effect on dHMVEC was correlated with activation of the MAPK Erk1/2 signaling pathway. In vivo vpVEGF induced angiogenesis in a Japanese quail assay and in a Matrigel plug assay in mice. Although in the quail assay vpVEGF showed lower activity than hrVEGF-A165 in mammalian-related systems there were no significant differences. The experiments with dHMVEC, as well as angiogenesis in vivo suggest that the pro-angiogenic effect of vpVEGF is related to its interaction with VEGFR-2 (flk-1).
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology, School of Medicine, Temple University, 1900 N. 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
authors.forename: Meghan C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Calvete
authors.forename: Izabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Staniszewska
authors.forename: Erin M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perez-Liz
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Del Valle
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lazarovici
authors.forename: Cezary
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marcinkiewicz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002633:Chemotaxis; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D003370:Coturnix; D004338:Drug Combinations; D042783:Endothelial Cells; D005260:Female; D007797:Laminin / Q000737:chemistry; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000737:chemistry; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D014688:Venoms / Q000378:metabolism; D017819:Viperidae
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D007797:Laminin; D011509:Proteoglycans; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D014688:Venoms; C059485:matrigel; D003094:Collagen; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2