VEGF signaling pathway

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulates mitogenesis of endothelial cells and plays a key role in physiological blood vessel formation and pathological angiogenesis such as wound healing, tumor growth and ischemic diseases. A heparin-binding homodimeric glycoprotein, VEGF initiates embryonic vasculogenesis and stimulates adult angiogenesis by binding to one of its three receptors (VEGFR-1/Flt-1, VEGFR-2/KDR/Flk-1, VEGFR-3/Flt-4) on vascular endothelial cells. Upon activation, the VEGFR undergoes transautophosphorylation and subsequent activation of a cell type-dependent signaling cascade, including Src, PLC-g, MAPK, as well as STAT3 and STAT5.