VASCULAR-PERMEABILITY FACTOR VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH-FACTOR - AN IMPORTANT MEDIATOR OF ANGIOGENESIS IN MALIGNANCY AND INFLAMMATION

Vascular permeability factor (VPF), also known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is a multifunctional cytokine that is overexpre ssed in many transplantable animal and autochtonous human cancers, in healing wounds, and in chronic inflammatory disorders such as psoriasi s and rheumatoid arthritis. All of these entities are characterized by angiogenesis, altered extracellular matrix, and variable degrees of h ypoxia. In addition, two VPF/VEGF receptors, flt-1 and kdr, are overex pressed by endothelial cells that line the microvessels that supply th ese tumors/inflammatory reactions. On the basis of these and other dat a, we have proposed a model of angiogenesis in which VPF/VEGF plays a central role; this model is applicable to tumors and also to the angio genesis that occurs in nonneoplastic processes.