Neurophilin-1 is a downstream target of transcription factor Ets-1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Transcription factor Ets-1 expressed in endothelial cells promotes angiogenesis. Here, we transiently overexpressed Ets-1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and comprehensively searched for potential downstream targets of Ets-1 by cDNA microarray analysis. The expression of several angiogenesis-related genes including neuropilin-1 was augmented by the overexpression of Ets-1. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting confirmed the increase in the levels of neuropilin-1 mRNA and protein. In contrast, dominant negative ets-1 decreased the levels of neuropilin-1 mRNA and protein. These results indicate that neuropilin-1 is a downstream target of Ets-1 in HUVECs.