Ahmad Ajmal, Nawaz Mohd Imtiaz
Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Nasser Al-Rashid Research Chair in Ophthalmology, Abdulaziz University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
J Cell Biochem. 2022 Dec;123(12):1938-1965. doi: 10.1002/jcb.30344. Epub 2022 Oct 26.
Over the last seven decades, a significant scientific contribution took place in the delineation of the implications of vascular endothelial-derived growth factor (VEGF) in the processes of angiogenesis. Under pathological conditions, mainly in response to hypoxia or ischemia, elevated VEGF levels promote vascular damage and the growth of abnormal blood vessels. Indeed, the development of VEGF biology has revolutionized our understanding of its role in pathological conditions. Hence, targeting VEGF or VEGF-mediated molecular pathways could be an excellent therapeutic strategy for managing cancers and intraocular neovascular disorders. Although anti-VEGF therapies, such as monoclonal antibodies and small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, have limited clinical efficacy, they can still significantly improve the overall survival rate. This thus demands further investigation through the development of alternative strategies in the management of VEGF-mediated pathological angiogenesis. This review article focuses on the recent developments toward the delineation of the functional biology of VEGF and the role of anti-VEGF strategies in the management of tumor and eye pathologies. Moreover, therapeutic angiogenesis, an exciting frontier for the treatment of ischemic disorders, is highlighted in this review, including wound healing.
在过去的七十年里，在阐明血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）在血管生成过程中的影响方面取得了重大的科学贡献。在病理条件下，主要是对缺氧或缺血的反应，VEGF水平升高会促进血管损伤和异常血管的生长。事实上，VEGF生物学的发展彻底改变了我们对其在病理条件下作用的理解。因此，靶向VEGF或VEGF介导的分子途径可能是治疗癌症和眼内新生血管疾病的极佳治疗策略。尽管抗VEGF疗法，如单克隆抗体和小分子酪氨酸激酶抑制剂，临床疗效有限，但它们仍能显著提高总体生存率。因此，需要通过开发替代策略来进一步研究VEGF介导的病理性血管生成的管理。这篇综述文章重点关注了VEGF功能生物学的最新进展以及抗VEGF策略在肿瘤和眼部疾病管理中的作用。此外，治疗性血管生成作为治疗缺血性疾病的一个令人兴奋的前沿领域，包括伤口愈合，在本综述中也得到了强调。
