Holmes David I R, Zachary Ian
BHF Laboratories and The Rayne Institute, Department of Medicine, University College London, 5 University Street, London WC1E 6JJ, UK.
Genome Biol. 2005;6(2):209. doi: 10.1186/gb-2005-6-2-209. Epub 2005 Feb 1.
Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are a family of secreted polypeptides with a highly conserved receptor-binding cystine-knot structure similar to that of the platelet-derived growth factors. VEGF-A, the founding member of the family, is highly conserved between animals as evolutionarily distant as fish and mammals. In vertebrates, VEGFs act through a family of cognate receptor kinases in endothelial cells to stimulate blood-vessel formation. VEGF-A has important roles in mammalian vascular development and in diseases involving abnormal growth of blood vessels; other VEGFs are also involved in the development of lymphatic vessels and disease-related angiogenesis. Invertebrate homologs of VEGFs and VEGF receptors have been identified in fly, nematode and jellyfish, where they function in developmental cell migration and neurogenesis. The existence of VEGF-like molecules and their receptors in simple invertebrates without a vascular system indicates that this family of growth factors emerged at a very early stage in the evolution of multicellular organisms to mediate primordial developmental functions.
血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)是一类分泌型多肽,具有与血小板衍生生长因子相似的高度保守的受体结合胱氨酸结结构。该家族的首个成员VEGF-A在进化距离甚远的鱼类和哺乳动物等动物之间高度保守。在脊椎动物中,VEGF通过内皮细胞中的一类同源受体激酶发挥作用,以刺激血管形成。VEGF-A在哺乳动物血管发育以及涉及血管异常生长的疾病中发挥重要作用;其他VEGF也参与淋巴管发育和疾病相关的血管生成。在果蝇、线虫和水母中已鉴定出VEGF和VEGF受体的无脊椎动物同源物,它们在发育性细胞迁移和神经发生中发挥作用。在没有血管系统的简单无脊椎动物中存在VEGF样分子及其受体,这表明该生长因子家族在多细胞生物进化的早期阶段就已出现,以介导原始发育功能。