2. Academic Validation
  3. VEGF-C is a trophic factor for neural progenitors in the vertebrate embryonic brain

VEGF-C is a trophic factor for neural progenitors in the vertebrate embryonic brain

  • Nat Neurosci. 2006 Mar;9(3):340-8. doi: 10.1038/nn1646.
Barbara Le Bras 1,  Maria-José Barallobre,  Jihane Homman-Ludiye,  Annelii Ny,  Sabine Wyns,  Tuomas Tammela,  Paula Haiko,  Marika J Karkkainen,  Li Yuan,  Marie-Paule Muriel,  Elli Chatzopoulou,  Christiane Bréant,  Bernard Zalc,  Peter Carmeliet,  Kari Alitalo,  Anne Eichmann,  Jean-Léon Thomas
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U711, Paris F-75013, France.
PMID: 16462734 DOI: 10.1038/nn1646
Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) was first identified as a regulator of the vascular system, where it is required for the development of lymphatic vessels. Here we report actions of VEGF-C in the central nervous system. We detected the expression of the VEGF-C receptor VEGFR-3 in neural progenitor cells in Xenopus laevis and mouse embryos. In Xenopus tadpole VEGF-C knockdowns and in mice lacking Vegfc, the proliferation of neural progenitors expressing VEGFR-3 was severely reduced, in the absence of intracerebral blood vessel defects. In addition, Vegfc-deficient mouse embryos showed a selective loss of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in the embryonic optic nerve. In vitro, VEGF-C stimulated the proliferation of OPCs expressing VEGFR-3 and nestin-positive ventricular neural cells. VEGF-C thus has a new, evolutionary conserved function as a growth factor selectively required by neural progenitor cells expressing its receptor VEGFR-3.

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