A. Yoshida et al., DIFFERENTIAL ENDOTHELIAL MIGRATION AND PROLIFERATION TO BASIC FIBROBLAST GROWTH-FACTOR AND VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH-FACTOR, Growth factors, 13(1-2), 1996, pp. 57-64
Neovascularization is a feature of a variety of pathological processes
. We compared the characteristics of vascular endothelial growth facto
r (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on migration and pr
oliferation of human umbilical vein endothelium (HUVEC). Both VEGF and
bFGF induced endothelial cell migration at similar concentrations (1/
2 max. VEGF = similar to 1.0 ng/ml, bFGF = similar to 5.0 ng/ml). Howe
ver, VEGF-stimulated migration was two-fold greater than bFGF at 1 and
10 ng/ml (rho < 0.05). In contrast, bFGF induced proliferation four-f
old more effectively than VEGF (1/2 max. 1 ng/ml and 1.4 ng/ml respect
ively). Checkerboard migration assays for bFGF showed a predominantly
chemokinetic pattern, whereas VEGF was predominantly chemotactic. VEGF
and bFGF were not synergistic in monolayer proliferation and migratio
n assays. Three angiogenesis inhibitors, alpha-interferon, TNP-470, an
d platelet factor-4, inhibited VEGF and bFGF induced cell migration. T
hese results indicate that VEGF and bFGF are chemoattractants that sti
mulate endothelial migration by different mechanisms and that both can
be inhibited by known angiogenesis inhibitors.