Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor:A multifunctional angiogenic cytokine

Abstract
Vascular permeability factor (VPF), variously known as a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and vasculotropin (VAS), is a multifunctional cytokine with important roles in vasculogenesis and both pathological and physiological angiogenesis. Originally described in the late 1970s as a tumor-secreted protein that potently increased microvascular permeability to plasma proteins, VPF/VEGF (as we will designate the molecule in this review) exerts a variety of effects on vascular endothelial cells which together promote the formation and growth of new blood vessels. Thus, in addition to rendering microvessels hyperpermeable, VPF/VEGF stimulates endothelial cells to migrate and divide and profoundly alters their pattern of gene expression.

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