HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: fj.06-7700comv1 21/9/2074    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Springer, M. L. Articles by Blau, H. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Springer, M. L. Articles by Blau, H. M.

Localization of vascular response to VEGF is not dependent on heparin binding

Matthew L. Springer^*,1, Andrea Banfi^,2, Jianqin Ye^*, Georges von Degenfeld, Peggy E. Kraft, Shereen A. Saini^*, Neel K. Kapasi^* and Helen M. Blau

^* Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA; and

Baxter Laboratory in Genetic Pharmacology, Departments of Molecular Pharmacology and of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

¹Correspondence: Division of Cardiology, Box 0124, 513 Parnassus Ave., Rm. S1136, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0124, USA. E-mail: matt.springer{at}medicine.ucsf.edu

The major vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) isoforms are splice variants from a single gene that differ in their extent of heparin affinity due to the absence of the heparin binding domain in the smallest isoform (mouse VEGF120, human VEGF121). A long-held assumption that has guided the use of VEGF isoforms clinically has been that their differences in heparin binding dictate their ability to diffuse through tissue, with VEGF121 moving most freely and that the distribution of recombinant VEGF would have therapeutically relevant consequences. To test this assumption, we delivered the genes encoding these isoforms by myoblast-mediated gene transfer, a means of delivering genes to highly localized sites within muscle. Surprisingly, all isoforms induced comparable extremely localized physiological effects. Significantly, irrespective of the isoform delivered, the vessels passing within several micrometers of muscle fibers expressing VEGF displayed sharply delineated changes in morphology. The induction of capillary wrapping around VEGF-producing fibers, and of vascular malformations in the muscle at high levels, did not differ among isoforms. These results indicate that heparin binding is not essential for the localization of VEGF in adult tissue and suggest that the preferential delivery of VEGF121 cDNA for clinical applications may not have a physiological basis.—Springer, M. L., Banfi, A., Ye, J., von Degenfeld, G., Kraft, P. E., Saini, S. A., Kapasi, N. K., Blau, H. M. Localization of vascular response to VEGF is not dependent on heparin binding.

Key Words: angiogenesis factor • blood vessels • myoblasts • vascular endothelial growth factor A

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Belotti, C. Calcagno, A. Garofalo, D. Caronia, E. Riccardi, R. Giavazzi, and G. Taraboletti Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Stimulates Organ-Specific Host Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Expression and Ovarian Cancer Invasion Mol. Cancer Res., April 1, 2008; 6(4): 525 - 534. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]