Gremlin is a novel agonist of the major proangiogenic receptor VEGFR2.

Blood

Unit of General Pathology and Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, Brescia, Italy.

Published: November 2010

The bone morphogenic protein antagonist gremlin is expressed during embryonic development and under different pathologic conditions, including cancer. Gremlin is a proangiogenic protein belonging to the cystine-knot superfamily that includes transforming growth factor-β proteins and the angiogenic vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs). Here, we demonstrate that gremlin binds VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR2), the main transducer of VEGF-mediated angiogenic signals, in a bone morphogenic protein-independent manner. Similar to VEGF-A, gremlin activates VEGFR2 in endothelial cells, leading to VEGFR2-dependent angiogenic responses in vitro and in vivo. Gremlin thus represents a novel proangiogenic VEGFR2 agonist distinct from the VEGF family ligands with implications in vascular development, angiogenesis-dependent diseases, and tumor neovascularization.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood-2010-06-291930DOI Listing

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