Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.10.1 (ERK)
 95,504 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Human osteoblast-like cells (HOB) produce vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the steady state level of which is stimulated by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-(OH)2D3]. As osteoblasts and endothelial cells are proximally located in skeletal tissue, we investigated the anabolic effects of 1,25-(OH)2D3 and VEGF on HOB cocultured with endothelial cells. When HOB with high alkaline phosphatase (Al-P) activity and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) with little activity were cultured together, Al-P activity increased, accompanied by an increase in cell number. When HOB and HUVEC were cultured separately, 1,25-(OH)2D3 did not directly stimulate [3H]thymidine incorporation into HUVEC, but stimulated it in the presence of HOB. VEGF did not directly stimulate the Al-P activity of HOB but stimulated it in the presence of HUVEC. The conditioned medium of HOB stimulated the proliferation of HUVEC, and this was partially blocked by anti-VEGF antibody. Conversely, the conditioned medium of HUVEC increased Al-P activity and [3H]thymidine incorporation into HOB, and this was partially blocked by antiinsulin-like growth factor I antibody and BQ-123, a specific antagonist of the endothelin-1 (ET-1) receptor. 1,25-(OH)2D3 stimulated the release of VEGF and ET-1 from HOB and HUVEC, respectively. Furthermore, the 1,25-(OH)2D3-induced release of VEGF was enhanced in HOB cocultured with HUVEC. A quantitative reverse transcription-PCR study revealed that genes for VEGF receptors (Flt-1 and KDR) were expressed in HUVEC, but not in HOB, and that 1,25-(OH)2D3 increased the levels of expression of VEGF receptor genes in endothelial cells only when cocultured with HOB. In summary, we demonstrated that 1,25-(OH)2D3 exerts an anabolic effect on osteoblasts by enhancing their production of VEGF, which stimulates its receptors on endothelial cells, followed by increased production of osteotropic growth factors, such as insulin-like growth factor I and ET-1. These in vitro findings suggest that the VEGF/VEGF receptor system may be involved in both bone formation and bone remodeling in vivo.
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PMID:Anabolic effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on osteoblasts are enhanced by vascular endothelial growth factor produced by osteoblasts and by growth factors produced by endothelial cells. 920 40

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent angiogenic and vascular permeability factor, is important in the angiogenesis of glioblastoma. A major difference between pilocytic astrocytoma, a grade I tumor, and the grade II fibrillary astrocytoma is the vascular proliferation, highly vascularized stroma, and great propensity for cyst formation in the former. In order to explore factors regulating such angiogenesis and cyst formation in pilocytic astrocytoma, we examined expression of VEGF and its receptors (KDR and Flt-1) using in situ hybridization. In all 14 cases a high level of VEGF transcripts could be demonstrated. These were found in specific regions, namely, in the tumor cyst wall, in areas of hyaline cystic degeneration, in stellate reticulated astrocytes around microcysts in the biphasic compact and loose areas, and in tumor cells with degenerative pleomorphic multicoated nuclei. KDR and Flt-1 were expressed in the tumor vasculature, with particularly high levels seen in coiled young proliferating vessels, especially those in the cyst wall. Given the known angiogenic and vascular permeability activities of VEGF, we propose that VEGF plays an important role in molding the characteristic morphologic features of this tumor, namely, the formation of cysts, microcystic pattern, hyaline cystic degeneration, hyaline vessels, and vascular proliferation. Mechanisms that block the VEGF pathway could constitute a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of this tumor.
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PMID:Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in pilocytic astrocytoma. 925 58

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), also known as vascular permeability factor (VPF), and its receptors Flt-1 and KDR (Flk-1 in mouse) and their localization in the human testis were analyzed by means of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. VEGF mRNA was detected in the human testicular tissue and in fragments of seminiferous tubules by means of RT-PCR, while fragments of blood vessels isolated from testes were negative. Western blotting procedure using a specific VEGF antibody, revealed two protein bands corresponding to 24 and 49 kDa in the extracts prepared from the whole testis and in the seminiferous tubules while no such bands were found in isolated fragments of human testicular blood vessels. Also immunohistochemically, human testicular blood vessels show no VEGF immunoreactivity, while Leydig cells and Sertoli cells were positive. The mRNA of the VEGF receptor Flt-1 was found to be expressed in human testicular tissue, in isolated fragments of testicular blood vessels and in seminiferous tubules as determined by RT-PCR procedure. In accordance with these results, the Flt-1 protein was immunohistochemically localized in Leydig, Sertoli and perivascular cells. Endothelial cells of certain segments of human testicular microvasculature also stained positive for Flt-1. Expression of VEGF receptor, KDR, could be demonstrated in human testicular tissue, in isolated seminiferous tubules and in isolated fragments of human testicular blood vessels by means of RT-PCR. Immunohistochemically, the KDR protein was localized in endothelial cells and perivascular cells of capillaries within the lamina propria of seminiferous tubules. Leydig cells and Sertoli cells show KDR immunoreactivity, too. Thus we demonstrate the presence of both types of VEGF receptors Flt-1 and KDR on Leydig as well as on Sertoli cells which are normal non-endothelial cells, suggesting hitherto unrecognized and novel functions for such receptors. The results obtained permit us to suggest VEGF as a paracrine mitogenic and angiogenic factor, responsible for modulating the capillarization of the human testicular tissue and maintaining the functions of testicular microvasculature. VEGF may also influence the permeability of capillaries passing through the groups of Leydig cells and those localized within the lamina propria of human seminiferous tubules. The differences in the expression pattern of the VEGF receptors in the human testicular tissue probably reflect different VEGF effects in different compartments of human testis.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in normal human testicular tissue. 925 59

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an endothelial cell mitogen with potent permeability properties. This growth factor exists in several isoforms; the most abundant form present in most tissues is VEGF165. The different isoforms exhibit differences in biologic function. During development, VEGF is expressed in multiple embryonic and fetal tissues, with the highest levels found in the lung, kidney, and heart. Vascular endothelial growth factor is also expressed in placental tissues and fetal membranes, and this expression increases with advancing gestation. In the fetal heart and placenta, VEGF expression is inducible by hypoxia. Two receptors, KDR and Flt-1, have been identified for VEGF. They are widely expressed in vascular endothelial cells and are also found in placental tissues where VEGF is localized. In humans, Flt-1 appears to be the predominant receptor, whereas in the cow and sheep, KDR is the major receptor expressed. The presence of VEGF and its receptors in placental tissues throughout gestation strongly suggests that VEGF plays an important role in the development and maintenance of placental vascular function during pregnancy. The localization of VEGF in fetal membranes and the fetal surface of the placenta raises the possibility that VEGF may be involved in the regulation of amniotic fluid volume and composition.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial growth factor: possible role in fetal development and placental function. 929 45

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its two endothelial cell-specific receptor tyrosine kinases, Flk-1/KDR and Flt-1, play a key role in physiological and pathological angiogenesis. Hypoxia has been shown to be a major mechanism for up-regulation of VEGF and its receptors in vivo. When we exposed human umbilical vein endothelial cells to hypoxic conditions in vitro, we observed increased levels of Flt-1 expression. In contrast, Flk-1/KDR mRNA levels were unchanged or slightly repressed. These findings suggest a differential transcriptional regulation of the two receptors by hypoxia. To identify regulatory elements involved in the hypoxic response, promoter regions of the mouse Flt-1 and Flk-1/KDR genes were isolated and tested in conjunction with luciferase reporter gene. In transient transfection assays, hypoxia led to strong transcriptional activation of the Flt-1 promoter, whereas Flk-1/KDR transcription was essentially unchanged. Promoter deletion analysis demonstrated a 430-bp region of the Flt-1 promoter to be required for transcriptional activation in response to hypoxia. This region includes a heptamer sequence matching the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF) consensus binding site previously found in other hypoxia-inducible genes such as the VEGF gene and erythropoietin gene. We further narrowed down the element mediating the hypoxia response to a 40-base pair sequence including the putative HIF binding site. We show that this element acts like an enhancer, since it activated transcription irrespective of its location or orientation in the construct. Furthermore, mutations within the putative HIF consensus binding site lead to impaired transcriptional activation by hypoxia. These findings indicate that, unlike the KDR/Flk-1 gene, the Flt-1 receptor gene is directly up-regulated by hypoxia via a hypoxia-inducible enhancer element located at positions -976 to -937 of the Flt-1 promoter.
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PMID:Differential transcriptional regulation of the two vascular endothelial growth factor receptor genes. Flt-1, but not Flk-1/KDR, is up-regulated by hypoxia. 929 7

Flt-1 tyrosine kinase, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor-1, binds VEGF and a new VEGF-related ligand, placenta growth factor, but KDR/Flk-1 (VEGF receptor-2) binds only VEGF. To characterize the functional regions in the Flt-1 extracellular domain such as the ligand binding region and the dimer formation of the receptor, we constructed a series of mutants of the Flt-1 extracellular domain as soluble forms in a baculovirus system. We found that a region carrying the N-terminal 1st to 3rd immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domains of Flt-1 binds both ligands with high affinity. However, for dimer formation of soluble Flt-1, a region further downstream in the Flt-1 extracellular domain was required. Mutant Flt-1 receptors expressed in COS cells confirmed the requirement of the 4th to 7th Ig region for the activation of Flt-1 tyrosine kinase. Soluble Flt-1 carrying the N-terminal 1st to 3rd Ig region suppressed VEGF-dependent endothelial proliferation in vitro to the same level as the larger forms of soluble Flt-1, suggesting that the binding of one soluble Flt-1 molecule to one subunit of the VEGF homodimer may be sufficient to block the VEGF activity.
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PMID:Characterization of the extracellular domain in vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (Flt-1 tyrosine kinase). 936 35

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent mitogen for endothelial cells (EC) in vitro and a major regulator of angiogenesis in vivo. VEGF121 and VEGF165 are the most abundant of the five known VEGF isoforms. The structural difference between these two is the presence in VEGF165 of 44 amino acids encoded by exon 7 lacking in VEGF121. It was previously shown that VEGF165 and VEGF121 both bind to KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-1 but that VEGF165 binds in addition to a novel receptor (Soker, S., Fidder, H., Neufeld, G., and Klagsbrun, M. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 5761-5767). The binding of VEGF165 to this VEGF165-specific receptor (VEGF165R) is mediated by the exon 7-encoded domain. To investigate the biological role of this domain further, a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein corresponding to the VEGF165 exon 7-encoded domain was prepared. The fusion protein inhibited binding of 125I-VEGF165 to VEGF165R on human umbilical vein-derived EC (HUVEC) and MDA-MB-231 tumor cells. The fusion protein also inhibited significantly 125I-VEGF165 binding to KDR/Flk-1 on HUVEC but not on porcine EC which express KDR/Flk-1 alone. VEGF165 had a 2-fold higher mitogenic activity for HUVEC than did VEGF121. The exon 7 fusion protein inhibited VEGF165-induced HUVEC proliferation by 60% to about the level stimulated by VEGF121. Unexpectedly, the fusion protein also inhibited HUVEC proliferation in response to VEGF121. Deletion analysis revealed that a core inhibitory domain exists within the C-terminal 23-amino acid portion of the exon 7-encoded domain and that a cysteine residue at position 22 in exon 7 is critical for inhibition. It was concluded that the exon 7-encoded domain of VEGF165 enhances its mitogenic activity for HUVEC by interacting with VEGF165R and modulating KDR/Flk-1-mediated mitogenicity indirectly and that exon 7-derived peptides may be useful VEGF antagonists in angiogenesis-associated diseases.
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PMID:Inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced endothelial cell proliferation by a peptide corresponding to the exon 7-encoded domain of VEGF165. 939 96

Vascular endothelial cell growth factor interacts with the receptor tyrosine kinases Flt-1 and KDR/Flk-1. We report that both receptors bind to PLC gamma and display specificity for the N-SH2 over the C-SH2 domain. Extensive site-directed mutagenesis of Flt-1 reveals that the juxta-membrane Y794, and the carboxyl terminal Y1169, are two major sites of interaction. Amino acids in the +1, +2 and +3 positions following these tyrosines are LSI and IPI, respectively. Peptide maps generated from wild type and mutant Flt-1 confirms that these residues are autophosphorylated. As predicted, mutagenesis of the analogous amino acids in KDR, positions Y801F and Y1175F, which lie in contexts YLSI and YIVL, respectively, reduced interactions of PLC gamma with this receptor. We conclude that both Flt-1 and KDR have the potential to signal through PLC gamma via phosphotyrosine residues located in juxta-membrane and carboxyl tail regions.
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PMID:Interactions of FLT-1 and KDR with phospholipase C gamma: identification of the phosphotyrosine binding sites. 939 17

Placenta growth factor (PlGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) represent two closely related angiogenic growth factors active as homodimers or heterodimers. Since goiters of the thyroid gland are extremely hypervascular, we investigated the expression of PlGF, VEGF and their receptors, Flt-1 and Flk-1/KDR, in a small panel of human goiters from patients with Graves's disease, in an animal model of thyroid goitrogenesis and in in vitro cultured thyroid cells. Here we report that the mRNA expression of PlGF, VEGF and their receptors is markedly enhanced in biopsies of goiters resected from Graves's patients. In vivo studies demonstrated that in the thyroid gland of thiouracil-fed rats, increased mRNA and protein expression of PIGF, VEGF, Flt-1 and Flk-1/KDR occurred subsequent to the rise in the serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and in parallel with thyroid capillary proliferation. In vitro studies confirmed the existence of such TSH-dependent paracrine communication between thyroid epithelial cells and endothelium since the conditioned medium collected from TSH-stimulated thyrocytes acquired mitogenic activity for human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVE) cells. Altogether, these data suggest that PlGF and VEGF, released by thyrocytes in response to the chronic activation of the TSH receptor pathway, may act through a paracrine mechanism on thyroid endothelium.
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PMID:Upregulation of the angiogenic factors PlGF, VEGF and their receptors (Flt-1, Flk-1/KDR) by TSH in cultured thyrocytes and in the thyroid gland of thiouracil-fed rats suggest a TSH-dependent paracrine mechanism for goiter hypervascularization. 940 Sep 95

Vascular endothelial growth factor A (here referred to as VEGF) is an endothelium-specific growth factor that binds to two distinct receptor tyrosine kinases, designated Flt-1 and KDR/Flk-1. VEGF stimulates autophosphorylation of both receptors, but little is known about their signal transduction properties. In this study, we used porcine aortic endothelial (PAE) cells overexpressing KDR (PAE/KDR) to evaluate the interaction of KDR with intracellular proteins and compared them with Flt-1-expressing PAE cells (PAE/Flt-1). VEGF-induced stimulation of KDR results in the association and phosphorylation of the 46-, 52-, and 66-kDa isoforms of Shc and the induction of Shc-Grb2 complex formation. In a similar fashion, KDR associates with Grb2 and Nck in a ligand-dependent fashion, suggesting Shc, Grb2, and Nck as potential candidates involved in the regulation of endothelial function. Another strong candidate is mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, which is strongly activated in response to VEGF stimulation as demonstrated by phosphorylation of the specific substrate myelin basic protein. Inhibition of MAP kinase activation by PD98059, a specific MAP kinase kinase inhibitor, results in inhibition of VEGF-induced proliferation of PAE/KDR cells. In contrast, VEGF-induced stimulation of Flt-1 does not activate MAP kinase in PAE/Flt-1 cells. In this study we provide the first two examples of molecules potentially capable of functionally counteracting the endothelial response to VEGF, namely SHP-1 and SHP-2. These two SH2 protein-tyrosine phosphatases physically associate with KDR secondary to VEGF stimulation, raising the interesting possibility that both molecules participate in the generation and/or modulation of VEGF-induced signals. Taken together, our results substantially broaden the spectrum of KDR-associating molecules, indicating that endothelial function and angiogenesis are regulated by a diverse network of signal transduction cascades.
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PMID:The vascular endothelial growth factor receptor KDR activates multiple signal transduction pathways in porcine aortic endothelial cells. 940 64


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