Abstract
Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is regulated by vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and their receptors (VEGFRs). VEGFR2 is abundant in the tip cells of angiogenic sprouts, where VEGF/VEGFR2 functions upstream of the delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4)/Notch signal transduction pathway. VEGFR3 is expressed in all endothelia and is indispensable for angiogenesis during early embryonic development. In adults, VEGFR3 is expressed in angiogenic blood vessels and some fenestrated endothelia. VEGFR3 is abundant in endothelial tip cells, where it activates Notch signaling, facilitating the conversion of tip cells to stalk cells during the stabilization of vascular branches. Subsequently, Notch activation suppresses VEGFR3 expression in a negative feedback loop. Here we used conditional deletions and a Notch pathway inhibitor to investigate the cross-talk between VEGFR2, VEGFR3, and Notch in vivo. We show that postnatal angiogenesis requires VEGFR2 signaling also in the absence of Notch or VEGFR3, and that even small amounts of VEGFR2 are able to sustain angiogenesis to some extent. We found that VEGFR2 is required independently of VEGFR3 for endothelial DLL4 up-regulation and angiogenic sprouting, and for VEGFR3 functions in angiogenesis. In contrast, VEGFR2 deletion had no effect, whereas VEGFR3 was essential for postnatal lymphangiogenesis, and even for lymphatic vessel maintenance in adult skin. Knowledge of these interactions and the signaling functions of VEGFRs in blood vessels and lymphatic vessels is essential for the therapeutic manipulation of the vascular system, especially when considering multitargeted antiangiogenic treatments.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 761-766 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| Volume | 112 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 Jan 20 |
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Keywords
- Anti-angiogenesis
- Lymphangiogenesis
- Notch
- VEGFC
- VEGFD
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
Cite this
VEGFR3 does not sustain retinal angiogenesis without VEGFR2. / Zarkada, Georgia; Heinolainen, Krista; Makinen, Taija; Kubota, Yoshiaki; Alitalo, Kari.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 112, No. 3, 20.01.2015, p. 761-766.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - VEGFR3 does not sustain retinal angiogenesis without VEGFR2
AU - Zarkada, Georgia
AU - Heinolainen, Krista
AU - Makinen, Taija
AU - Kubota, Yoshiaki
AU - Alitalo, Kari
PY - 2015/1/20
Y1 - 2015/1/20
N2 - Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is regulated by vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and their receptors (VEGFRs). VEGFR2 is abundant in the tip cells of angiogenic sprouts, where VEGF/VEGFR2 functions upstream of the delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4)/Notch signal transduction pathway. VEGFR3 is expressed in all endothelia and is indispensable for angiogenesis during early embryonic development. In adults, VEGFR3 is expressed in angiogenic blood vessels and some fenestrated endothelia. VEGFR3 is abundant in endothelial tip cells, where it activates Notch signaling, facilitating the conversion of tip cells to stalk cells during the stabilization of vascular branches. Subsequently, Notch activation suppresses VEGFR3 expression in a negative feedback loop. Here we used conditional deletions and a Notch pathway inhibitor to investigate the cross-talk between VEGFR2, VEGFR3, and Notch in vivo. We show that postnatal angiogenesis requires VEGFR2 signaling also in the absence of Notch or VEGFR3, and that even small amounts of VEGFR2 are able to sustain angiogenesis to some extent. We found that VEGFR2 is required independently of VEGFR3 for endothelial DLL4 up-regulation and angiogenic sprouting, and for VEGFR3 functions in angiogenesis. In contrast, VEGFR2 deletion had no effect, whereas VEGFR3 was essential for postnatal lymphangiogenesis, and even for lymphatic vessel maintenance in adult skin. Knowledge of these interactions and the signaling functions of VEGFRs in blood vessels and lymphatic vessels is essential for the therapeutic manipulation of the vascular system, especially when considering multitargeted antiangiogenic treatments.
AB - Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is regulated by vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and their receptors (VEGFRs). VEGFR2 is abundant in the tip cells of angiogenic sprouts, where VEGF/VEGFR2 functions upstream of the delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4)/Notch signal transduction pathway. VEGFR3 is expressed in all endothelia and is indispensable for angiogenesis during early embryonic development. In adults, VEGFR3 is expressed in angiogenic blood vessels and some fenestrated endothelia. VEGFR3 is abundant in endothelial tip cells, where it activates Notch signaling, facilitating the conversion of tip cells to stalk cells during the stabilization of vascular branches. Subsequently, Notch activation suppresses VEGFR3 expression in a negative feedback loop. Here we used conditional deletions and a Notch pathway inhibitor to investigate the cross-talk between VEGFR2, VEGFR3, and Notch in vivo. We show that postnatal angiogenesis requires VEGFR2 signaling also in the absence of Notch or VEGFR3, and that even small amounts of VEGFR2 are able to sustain angiogenesis to some extent. We found that VEGFR2 is required independently of VEGFR3 for endothelial DLL4 up-regulation and angiogenic sprouting, and for VEGFR3 functions in angiogenesis. In contrast, VEGFR2 deletion had no effect, whereas VEGFR3 was essential for postnatal lymphangiogenesis, and even for lymphatic vessel maintenance in adult skin. Knowledge of these interactions and the signaling functions of VEGFRs in blood vessels and lymphatic vessels is essential for the therapeutic manipulation of the vascular system, especially when considering multitargeted antiangiogenic treatments.
KW - Anti-angiogenesis
KW - Lymphangiogenesis
KW - Notch
KW - VEGFC
KW - VEGFD
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84921417379&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84921417379&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1423278112
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1423278112
M3 - Article
C2 - 25561555
AN - SCOPUS:84921417379
VL - 112
SP - 761
EP - 766
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 3
ER -