| Introduction |
VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) is a heparin-binding cytokine and member of the PDGF/VEGF growth factor family, which acts as a vasodilator, regulator of vasculogenesis, and is a potent stimulator of angiogenesis of both normal and cancerous cells.
All VEGF family members act through binding to the tyrosine kinase receptors VEGFR-1 (Flt-1) and VEGFR-2 (KDR/CD309), and the functional forms of VEGF, which exist as disulphide-linked homodimers, are classified according to the number of amino acid residues within a constitutive polypeptide chain e.g VEGF165. |
