Vascular endothelial growth factor in reproductive biology

The critical role of angiogenesis in embryology and tumor biology has been recognized for more than 20 years. However, the fact that neovascularizatio n is essential to processes in mammalian female reproduction has only recen tly been appreciated widely. In this review we focus on a single angiogenic growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor. As scientists have disc overed in many aspects of cell biology, multiple and redundant signaling pa thways have evolved in nature, presumably to protect essential biological f unctions from inactivating diseases or mutations. Despite this redundancy, some factors are of hierarchical importance. Vascular endothelial growth fa ctor appears to be such a factor in the regulation of angiogenesis. (C) 199 9 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.