Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF): From Basic Mechanisms to Clinical Significance and Drug Development
A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Biological Factors".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 December 2020) | Viewed by 52780
Special Issue Editor
Interests: cancer biology; cell fate engineering; epigenetics; hematopoiesis; in vivo disease modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF or VEGF-A), since its initial discovery in the late 1980s by Napoleone Ferrara and colleagues, has been one of the most studied growth factors in history, with more than 76,000 publications to date. The main reason for such avid interest in VEGF is based on its critical importance in blood vessel development, organogenesis, tissue homeostasis, as well as pathological processes associated with cancer progression and cardiovascular and neuronal associated diseases, to name just a few. Initial gene targeting studies in 1996 demonstrated that VEGF was one of the first documented haploinsufficient lethalities associated with loss of a single allele, thereby underscoring (1) how threshold levels of this important growth factor are essential for normal vascular development and (2) the importance of the vasculature for normal embryogenesis and organ development. Over the last 3 decades, work on VEGF and its family members (VEGF-A-E, PlGF) as well as its main signalling receptors (VEGFR1-3) and co-receptors (Nrp1-2) has not only shed light on the complexity of vascular patterning and specification but has also led to the development of novel targeting agents that hold great promise for the treatment of various human diseases. In particular excessive VEGF secretion and signalling has been associated with enhanced tumour growth and metastasis as well as ocular diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy and amacular degeneration. Development and FDA approval of a humanized monoclonal antibody against VEGF termed Bevacizumab has shown significant promise in the treatment of these diseases. However, given the biological complexity of the signaling molecules involved in vascular biology and cellular crosstalk, the development of combination therapies that can be used in synergy with VEGF signaling inhibition is warranted in order to develop more efficacious treatments and avoid resistance mechanisms particularly evident in cancer.
The purpose of this Special Issue of Biomolecules is to bring together both original papers and review articles that encompass the complexity of VEGF biology and advancements in our understanding of VEGF signalling crosstalk in both developmental processes, organ homeostasis and disease progression, with a particular focus on cancer biology and novel combination therapy approaches.
Dr. Jody Jonathan Haigh
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- VEGF/VEGFR signalling
- Signalling Crosstalk
- Angiogenesis/vasculogenesis
- Organogenesis
- Tissue homeostasis
- Anti-angiogenesis therapies
- Cancer combination therapies
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