Shibuya M
Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Cell Struct Funct. 2001 Feb;26(1):25-35. doi: 10.1247/csf.26.25.
Angiogenesis is an essential biological process not only in embryogenesis but also in the progression of a variety of major diseases such as cancer, diabetes and inflammation. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family and its receptor system has been shown to be the fundamental regulator in the cell signaling of angiogenesis. Other systems, Angiopoietin-Tie and EphrinB2-Eph4B etc. are also involved in and cooperate with VEGF system to establish the dynamic blood vessel structures. VEGF receptor belongs to PDGF receptor super-gene family, and carries seven Ig-domains in the extracellular region and a tyrosine kinase domain in the intracellular region. Three members of VEGF receptor family, Flt-1, KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-4, have unique characteristics in terms of the signal transduction, and regulate angiogenesis, lymphangiongenesis and vascular permeability. Further studies on VEGF-VEGF receptor system may significantly facilitate our understanding on the physiological as well as pathological vascular systems in the body and the development of new strategies to control and suppress the major diseases in humans.
血管生成不仅是胚胎发育过程中必不可少的生物学过程，也是癌症、糖尿病和炎症等多种重大疾病进展过程中的关键环节。血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）家族及其受体系统已被证明是血管生成细胞信号传导的基本调节因子。其他系统，如血管生成素-Tie和EphrinB2-Eph4B等，也参与VEGF系统并与之协同作用，以建立动态的血管结构。VEGF受体属于血小板衍生生长因子（PDGF）受体超基因家族，在细胞外区域携带七个免疫球蛋白（Ig）结构域，在细胞内区域携带一个酪氨酸激酶结构域。VEGF受体家族的三个成员，即Flt-1、KDR/Flk-1和Flt-4，在信号转导方面具有独特的特性，并调节血管生成、淋巴管生成和血管通透性。对VEGF-VEGF受体系统的进一步研究可能会极大地促进我们对人体生理和病理血管系统的理解，以及开发控制和抑制人类重大疾病的新策略。
