title: Cerebral capillary endothelial cells are covered by the VEGF-expressing foot processes of astrocytes.
abstract: Molecules that have crucial functions in both nervous and vascular systems have attracted keen attention recently, and the name "angioneurins" has been proposed. The most striking example of angioneurins is vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF), which was originally identified as a key regulator of angiogenesis and has only recently been found to have important functions in the nervous system. In this study, we compared VEGF expression in the vasculature in the brain with that in the aorta and the vasculature in the kidney in mice. In larger vessels containing smooth muscle cells, VEGF was expressed by smooth muscle cells covering the lining of endothelial cells, both in and outside the brain. In cerebral capillaries lacking smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells were closely covered by VEGF-expressing foot processes of astrocytes, whereas capillaries were surrounded by VEGF-expressing processes of podocytes in the renal glomeruli. We also found that cultured cerebral microvessel endothelial cells do not express VEGF, whereas cultured cortical astrocytes do express VEGF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibasaki
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurachi
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puentes
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mikuni
authors.forename: Yasuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishizaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000166:cytology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D007668:Kidney / Q000098:blood supply / Q000166:cytology; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D050199:Podocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C467480:vascular endothelial growth factor A, mouse