Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: 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)

Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) is a multifunctional cytokine and growth factor that has important roles in both pathological and physiological angiogenesis. VPF/VEGF induces vascular hyperpermeability, cell division, and other activities by interacting with two specific receptor tyrosine kinases, KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-1, that are selectively expressed on vascular endothelium. The signaling cascade that follows VPF/VEGF interaction with cultured endothelium is only partially understood but is known to result in increased intracellular calcium, activation of protein kinase C, and tyrosine phosphorylations of both receptors, phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma) and phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase. For many reasons, signaling events elicited in cultured endothelium may not mimic mediator effects on intact normal or tumor-induced microvessels in vivo. Therefore, we developed a system that would allow measurement of VPF/VEGF-induced signaling on intact microvessels. We used mouse mesentery, a tissue whose numerous microvessels are highly responsive to VPF/VEGF and that we found to express Flk-1 and Flt-1 selectively. At intervals after injecting VPF/VEGF i.p., mesenteries were harvested, extracted, and immunoprecipitated. Immunoblots confirmed that VPF/VEGF induced tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins in mesenteric microvessels as in cultured endothelium: Flk-1; PLC-gamma; and mitogen-activated protein kinase. Similar phosphorylations were observed when mesentery was exposed to VPF/VEGF in vitro, or when mesenteries were harvested from mice bearing the mouse ovarian tumor ascites tumor, which itself secretes abundant VPF/VEGF. Other experiments further elucidated the VPF/VEGF signaling pathway, demonstrating phosphorylation of both PYK2 and focal adhesion kinase, activation of c-jun-NH2-kinase with phosphorylation of c-Jun, and an association between Flk-1 and PLC-gamma. In addition, we demonstrated translocation of mitogen-activated protein kinase to the cell nucleus in cultured endothelium. Taken together, these experiments describe a new model system with the potential for investigating signaling events in response to diverse mediators on intact microvessels in vivo and have further elucidated the VPF/VEGF signaling cascade.
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PMID:Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor-mediated signaling in mouse mesentery vascular endothelium. 951 16

Totipotent murine ES cells have an enormous potential for the study of cell specification. Here we demonstrate that ES cells can differentiate to hemopoietic cells through the proximal lateral mesoderm, merely upon culturing in type IV collagen-coated dishes. Separation of the Flk1+ mesoderm from other cell lineages was critical for hemopoietic cell differentiation, whereas formation of the embryoid body was not. Since the two-dimensionally spreading cells can be monitored easily in real time, this culture system will greatly facilitate the study of the mechanisms involved in the cell specification to mesoderm, endothelial, and hemopoietic cells. In the culture of ES cells, however, lineages and stages of differentiating cells can only be defined by their own characteristics. We showed that a combination of monoclonal antibodies against E-cadherin, Flk1/KDR, PDGF receptor(alpha), VE-cadherin, CD45 and Ter119 was sufficient to define most intermediate stages during differentiation of ES cells to blood cells. Using this culture system and surface markers, we determined the following order for blood cell differentiation: ES cell (E-cadherin+Flk1-PDGFRalpha-), proximal lateral mesoderm (E-cadherin-Flk1+VE-cadherin-), progenitor with hemoangiogenic potential (Flk1+VE-cadherin+CD45-), hemopoietic progenitor (CD45+c-Kit+) and mature blood cells (c-Kit-CD45+ or Ter119+), though direct differentiation of blood cells from the Flk1+VE-cadherin- stage cannot be ruled out. Not only the VE-cadherin+CD45- population generated from ES cells but also those directly sorted from the yolk sac of 9.5 dpc embryos have a potential to give rise to hemopoietic cells. Progenitors with hemoangiogenic potential were identified in both the Flk1+VE-cadherin- and Flk1+VE-cadherin+ populations by the single cell deposition experiment. This line of evidence implicates Flk1+VE-cadherin+ cells as a diverging point of hemopoietic and endothelial cell lineages.
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PMID:Progressive lineage analysis by cell sorting and culture identifies FLK1+VE-cadherin+ cells at a diverging point of endothelial and hemopoietic lineages. 952 12

Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) is a potent mitogen expressed widely during embryogenesis and in tissues of the human fetus. It is recognized as an endothelial cell mitogen and is angiogenic in vivo. Expression of FGF-2 mRNA has also been shown within the human term placenta, and FGF-2 isolated from placental tissue, suggesting a role in placental growth including angiogenesis. The purpose of this study was to quantify and localize the sites of expression of FGF-2 and its high-affinity receptor, FGFR1, within placentae from normal term human pregnancies (n=8, 39-42 weeks), and pregnancies complicated by pregestational, type 1 diabetes (n=8, 36-40 weeks). Tissues were collected immediately following delivery and were either snap-frozen for RNA isolation, or fixed for either in situ hybridization using a 35S-labelled cRNAs encoding human FGF-2 or FGFR1, or immunocytochemistry using antibodies against human FGF-2 or FGFR1. Northern blot hybridization showed a significantly increased abundance of mRNAs for both FGF-2 and FGFR1 in placentae from diabetic women compared to those from normal women. In normal term placenta FGF-2 mRNA was present at low abundance in fetal villous tissue, in the vascular endothelium of blood vessels, and in the syncytiotrophoblast. FGF-2 mRNA was considerably more abundant in the syncytiotrophoblast and villous tissue of placentae from diabetic patients. Messenger RNA for FGFR1 was similarly distributed to that encoding FGF-2. Immunocytochemistry revealed abundant FGF-2 and FGFR1 peptides in villous vascular endothelial cells, and associated with the cell membranes of stromal tissues in placentae from control pregnancies. Little immunoreactive FGF-2 was present in the syncytiotrophoblast at term. In pregnancies complicated by diabetes intense staining for immunoreactive FGF-2 and for FGFR1 additionally existed in syncytiotrophoblast. The results suggest that FGF-2 acting as an autocrine agent contributes to placental angiogenesis, but may be released from the syncytium into the maternal circulation. Expression is elevated in placentae from diabetic pregnancies, and is particularly associated with the syncytiotrophoblast. This suggests a placental source for the elevated circulating maternal FGF-2 previously described in diabetic pregnancy.
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PMID:Fibroblast growth factor-2 and fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 mRNA expression and peptide localization in placentae from normal and diabetic pregnancies. 954 79

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic growth factor that is a primary stimulant of the vascularization of solid tumors. VEGF production is induced by oncogenic gene mutations in the tumor cells and by hypoxic conditions inside the tumor mass. Hypoxia and the locally increased concentration of VEGF lead to an up-regulation of VEGF receptor expression on tumor endothelial cells. Therefore, in the tumor microenvironment, there is an up-regulation of both VEGF and its receptor, leading to a high concentration of occupied receptor on tumor vascular endothelium. The VEGF:receptor complex presents an attractive target for the specific delivery of drugs or other effectors to tumor endothelium. In the present study, several hybridomas that secrete monoclonal antibodies against the VEGF:receptor (Flk-1) complex or against VEGF itself have been raised. Three of the antibodies (3E7, GV39M, and 11B5) bind with high affinity to the VEGF:Flk-1 complex in ELISA and to tumor endothelium in frozen sections of human tumors, rodent tumors, and human tumor xenografts. 3E7 and GV39M localize selectively to tumor endothelium after i.v. injection into mice bearing human tumor xenografts. Additionally, one antibody (2C3) was raised that blocks the interaction between VEGF and KDR/Flk-1. 2C3 inhibits VEGF-mediated growth of endothelial cells in vitro and localizes strongly to connective tissue in tumors after injection into mice bearing human tumor xenografts. These findings suggest that 3E7, GV39M, and 2C3 are candidates for targeting and imaging the vasculature or connective tissue of tumors.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial growth factor as a marker of tumor endothelium. 958 38

Interendothelial junctions play an important role in the regulation of endothelial functions, such as vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, and vascular permeability. In this paper we show that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent inducer of new blood vessels and vascular permeability in vivo, stimulated the migration of endothelial cells after artificial monolayer wounding and induced an increase in paracellular permeability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Furthermore, VEGF increased phosphotyrosine labeling at cell-cell contacts. Biochemical analyses revealed a strong induction of VEGF-receptor-2 (flk-1/KDR) tyrosine-autophosphorylation by VEGF which was maximal after 5 minutes and was followed by receptor downregulation. 15 minutes to 1 hour after VEGF stimulation the endothelial adherens junction components VE-cadherin, beta-catenin, plakoglobin, and p120 were maximally phosphorylated on tyrosine, while alpha-catenin was not modified. PECAM-1/CD31, another cell-cell junctional adhesive molecule, was tyrosine phosphorylated with similar kinetics in response to VEGF. In contrast, activation of VEGF-receptor-1 (Flt-1) by its specific ligand placenta growth factor (PlGF) had no effect on the tyrosine phosphorylation of cadherins and catenins. Despite the rapid and transient receptor activation and the subsequent tyrosine phosphorylation of adherens junction proteins the cadherin complex remained stable and associated with junctions. Our results demonstrate that the endothelial adherens junction is a downstream target of VEGFR-2 signaling and suggest that tyrosine phosphorylation of its components may be involved in the the loosening of cell-cell contacts in established vessels to modulate transendothelial permeability and to allow sprouting and cell migration during angiogenesis.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial growth factor induces VE-cadherin tyrosine phosphorylation in endothelial cells. 962 48

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been found to have various functions on endothelial cells, the most prominent of which is the induction of proliferation and differentiation. In this report we demonstrate that VEGF or a mutant, selectively binding to the Flk-1/KDR receptor, displayed high levels of survival activity, whereas Flt-1-specific ligands failed to promote survival of serum-starved primary human endothelial cells. This activity was blocked by the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3-kinase)-specific inhibitors wortmannin and LY294002. Endothelial cells cultured in the presence of VEGF and the Flk-1/KDR-selective VEGF mutant induced phosphorylation of the serine-threonine kinase Akt in a PI3-kinase-dependent manner. Akt activation was not detected in response to stimulation with placenta growth factor or an Flt-1-selective VEGF mutant. Furthermore, a constitutively active Akt was sufficient to promote survival of serum-starved endothelial cells in transient transfection experiments. In contrast, overexpression of a dominant-negative form of Akt blocked the survival effect of VEGF. These findings identify the Flk-1/KDR receptor and the PI3-kinase/Akt signal transduction pathway as crucial elements in the processes leading to endothelial cell survival induced by VEGF. Inhibition of apoptosis may represent a major aspect of the regulatory activity of VEGF on the vascular endothelium.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial growth factor regulates endothelial cell survival through the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase/Akt signal transduction pathway. Requirement for Flk-1/KDR activation. 980 96

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and placental derived growth factor (PlGF) stimulate cell proliferation and differentiation by binding to their specific receptors, Flk-1/KDR and Flt-1 respectively. Flk-1/KDR-deficient murine embryos manifest failure of blood-island formation and vasculogenesis. The aim of this study was to directly evaluate the importance of VEGF, PlGF/Flt-1 and Flk-1/KDR receptor ligand interactions in regulating normal and malignant human haemopoiesis. Addition of VEGF and PlGF failed to enhance survival or cloning efficiency of human haemopoietic progenitors isolated from adult bone marrows, fetal livers or cord blood samples. This finding may be explained by the apparent absence of mRNA encoding Flt-1 and Flk-1/KDR receptors on stem cell rich CD34+ c-kit-R+ Rh123(low) cells. Further studies revealed that Fit-1 R mRNA, but not Flk-1/KDR mRNA was first detectable in the more mature cells isolated from haemopoietic colonies. Accordingly, VEGF receptors are either absent, or expressed at very low level, on human haemopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Of interest, normal and malignant human haemopoietic cells appeared to secrete VEGF protein. However, in contrast to normal haemopoietic progenitors, VEGF co-stimulated HEL cell proliferation as well as CFU-GM colony formation from approximately 15% of the chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients studied. Therefore, although VEGF appeared to have minimal effects on normal haemopoietic cell growth it would appear to drive malignant haemopoietic cell proliferation to some degree. Of more importance, however, we speculate that VEGF may play an very important role in leukaemogenesis by stimulating growth of vascular endothelium, thereby providing a sufficient blood supply to feed the growing haematological tumour.
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PMID:Role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and placenta-derived growth factor (PlGF) in regulating human haemopoietic cell growth. 988 8

Embryonic stem cells can differentiate in vitro into hematopoietic cells through two intermediate stages; the first being FLK1(+) E-cadherin- proximal lateral mesoderm and the second being CD45(-) VE-cadherin+ endothelial cells. To further dissect the CD45(-) VE-cadherin+ cells, we have examined distribution of alpha4-integrin on this cell population, because alpha4-integrin is the molecule expressed on hematopoietic stem cells. During culture of FLK1(+) E-cadherin- cells, CD45(-) VE-cadherin+ alpha4-integrin- cells differentiate first, followed by alpha4-integrin+ cells appearing in both CD45(-) VE-cadherin+ and CD45(-) VE-cadherin- cell populations. In the CD45(-) VE-cadherin+ cell population, alpha4-integrin+ subset but not alpha4-integrin- subset had the potential to differentiate to hematopoietic lineage cells, whereas endothelial cell progenitors were present in both subsets. The CD45(-) VE-cadherin- alpha4-integrin+ cells also showed hematopoietic potential. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses showed that differential expression of the Gata2 and Myb genes correlated with the potential of the alpha4-integrin+ cells to give rise to hematopoietic cell differentiation. Hematopoietic CD45(-) VE-cadherin+ alpha4-integrin+ cells were also present in the yolk sac and embryonic body proper of 9.5 day postcoitum mouse embryos. Our results suggest that the expression of alpha4-integrin is a marker of the earliest precursor of hematopoietic cell lineage that was diverged from endothelial progenitors.
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PMID:Expression of alpha4-integrin defines the earliest precursor of hematopoietic cell lineage diverged from endothelial cells. 994 59

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), known as an endothelial cell-specific mitogen, has been reported to be linked also to the NO/cGMP-pathway, which has been notified in the inner ear. Up to now, VEGF has not yet been described in the inner ear. We performed immunohistochemical analysis using specific antibodies to VEGF and to both known VEGF-receptors Flt-1 and KDR/Flk-1 on paraffin-sections of temporal bones from guinea pigs (n=5). Immunoreactivity of VEGF, Flt-1 and KDR/Flk-1 was detectable in a subpopulation of vestibular ganglion cells. VEGF could be found also in the endothelium of blood vessels, in fibrocytes of the lamina propria and in the neuroepithelium. Strong immuno-labelling to Flt-1 was evident in nerve fibres, vascular endothelium and in the neuroepithelium. Fibrocytes, endothelium of blood vessels, supporting cells and calyces in the sensory epithelium revealed immunoreactivity to KDR/Flk-1. These findings give evidence that VEGF, Flt-1 and KDR/Flk-1 are constitutively expressed in the vestibule.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical detection of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF-receptors Flt-1 and KDR/Flk-1 in the vestibule of guinea pigs. 1068 99

Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) interacts with two high-affinity tyrosine kinase receptors, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2, to increase microvascular permeability and induce angiogenesis. Both receptors are selectively expressed by vascular endothelial cells and are strikingly increased in tumor vessels. We used a specific antibody to localize VEGFR-2 (FLK-1, KDR) in microvascular endothelium of normal mouse kidneys and in the microvessels induced by the TA3/St mammary tumor or by infection with an adenoviral vector engineered to express VPF/VEGF. A pre-embedding method was employed at the light and electron microscopic levels using either nanogold or peroxidase as reporters. Equivalent staining was observed on both the luminal and abluminal surfaces of tumor- and adenovirus-induced vascular endothelium, but plasma membranes at interendothelial junctions were spared except at sites connected to vesiculovacuolar organelles (VVOs). VEGFR-2 was also localized to the membranes and stomatal diaphragms of some VVOs. This staining distribution is consistent with a model in which VPF/VEGF increases microvascular permeability by opening VVOs to allow the transendothelial cell passage of plasma and plasma proteins.
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PMID:Ultrastructural localization of the vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) receptor-2 (FLK-1, KDR) in normal mouse kidney and in the hyperpermeable vessels induced by VPF/VEGF-expressing tumors and adenoviral vectors. 1072 96


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