| Structural highlights
Disease
[VEGFA_HUMAN] Defects in VEGFA are a cause of susceptibility to microvascular complications of diabetes type 1 (MVCD1) [MIM:603933]. These are pathological conditions that develop in numerous tissues and organs as a consequence of diabetes mellitus. They include diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy leading to end-stage renal disease, and diabetic neuropathy. Diabetic retinopathy remains the major cause of new-onset blindness among diabetic adults. It is characterized by vascular permeability and increased tissue ischemia and angiogenesis.
Function
[VEGFA_HUMAN] Growth factor active in angiogenesis, vasculogenesis and endothelial cell growth. Induces endothelial cell proliferation, promotes cell migration, inhibits apoptosis and induces permeabilization of blood vessels. Binds to the FLT1/VEGFR1 and KDR/VEGFR2 receptors, heparan sulfate and heparin. NRP1/Neuropilin-1 binds isoforms VEGF-165 and VEGF-145. Isoform VEGF165B binds to KDR but does not activate downstream signaling pathways, does not activate angiogenesis and inhibits tumor growth.[1] [2] [3]
Evolutionary Conservation
Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a specific and potent angiogenic factor and, therefore, a prime therapeutic target for the development of antagonists for the treatment of cancer. As a first step toward this goal, phage display was used to generate peptides that bind to the receptor-binding domain (residues 8-109) of VEGF and compete with receptor [Fairbrother, W. J., Christinger, H. W., Cochran, A. G., Fuh, G., Keenan, C. J., Quan, C., Shriver, S. K., Tom, J. Y. K., Wells, J. A., and Cunningham, B. C. (1999) Biochemistry 38, 17754-17764]. The crystal structure of VEGF in complex with one of these peptides was solved and refined to a resolution of 1.9 A. The 20-mer peptide is unstructured in solution and adopts a largely extended conformation when bound to VEGF. Residues 3-8 form a beta-strand which pairs with strand beta6 of VEGF via six hydrogen bonds. The C-terminal four residues of the peptide point away from the growth factor, consistent with NMR data indicating that these residues are flexible in the complex in solution. In contrast, shortening the N-terminus of the peptide leads to decreased binding affinities. Truncation studies show that the peptide can be reduced to 14 residues with only moderate effect on binding affinity. However, because of the extended conformation and the scarcity of specific side-chain interactions with VEGF, the peptide is not a promising lead for small-molecule development. The interface between the peptide and VEGF contains a subset of the residues recognized by a neutralizing Fab fragment and overlaps partially with the binding site for the Flt-1 receptor. The location of the peptide-binding site and the hydrophilic character of the interactions with VEGF resemble more the binding mode of the Fab fragment than that of the receptor.
Crystal structure of the complex between VEGF and a receptor-blocking peptide.,Wiesmann C, Christinger HW, Cochran AG, Cunningham BC, Fairbrother WJ, Keenan CJ, Meng G, de Vos AM Biochemistry. 1998 Dec 22;37(51):17765-72. PMID:9922142[4]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
See Also
References
- ↑ Murphy JF, Fitzgerald DJ. Vascular endothelial growth factor induces cyclooxygenase-dependent proliferation of endothelial cells via the VEGF-2 receptor. FASEB J. 2001 Jul;15(9):1667-9. PMID:11427521
- ↑ Woolard J, Wang WY, Bevan HS, Qiu Y, Morbidelli L, Pritchard-Jones RO, Cui TG, Sugiono M, Waine E, Perrin R, Foster R, Digby-Bell J, Shields JD, Whittles CE, Mushens RE, Gillatt DA, Ziche M, Harper SJ, Bates DO. VEGF165b, an inhibitory vascular endothelial growth factor splice variant: mechanism of action, in vivo effect on angiogenesis and endogenous protein expression. Cancer Res. 2004 Nov 1;64(21):7822-35. PMID:15520188 doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-04-0934
- ↑ Dixelius J, Olsson AK, Thulin A, Lee C, Johansson I, Claesson-Welsh L. Minimal active domain and mechanism of action of the angiogenesis inhibitor histidine-rich glycoprotein. Cancer Res. 2006 Feb 15;66(4):2089-97. PMID:16489009 doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-05-2217
- ↑ Wiesmann C, Christinger HW, Cochran AG, Cunningham BC, Fairbrother WJ, Keenan CJ, Meng G, de Vos AM. Crystal structure of the complex between VEGF and a receptor-blocking peptide. Biochemistry. 1998 Dec 22;37(51):17765-72. PMID:9922142
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