Endocrine gland–derived VEGF and the emerging hypothesis of organ-specific regulation of angiogenesis

Abstract
The diversity in growth and morphological characteristics among endothelial cells in different normal tissues and tumors has been long recognized. Yet there has been no clear molecular explanation for such diversity at the level of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and other established regulators of angiogenesis that are expressed widely and show little tissue selectivity in their angiogenic properties. Endocrine gland-derived VEGF represents the first example of a tissue-specific angiogenic factor, likely to be followed by others.