How VEGF makes blood vessels leaky

Defining the role of neuropilin 1 (NRP1) in vascular permeability

Blood vessel disease contributes to heart attacks, strokes, blindness and lung disease, and the stimulation of new vessel growth is a promising treatment for these conditions. But an unwanted side effect of blood vessel growth is tissue swelling. This occurs because the newly formed blood vessels are often leaky. Professor Christiana Ruhrberg from University College London has been awarded a grant from the BHF to understand how a potent blood vessel growth factor called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) causes blood vessels to leak during growth, and to find treatments that boost blood vessel growth without causing leakage. She believes that blocking a molecule called neuropilin may be a useful way to block blood vessels leaking. Her team will work out how neuropilin works in the eye, skin and lungs of mice, and how it passes signals from VEGF into cells within the inner lining of blood vessels, and if it causes vessels to leak. This research may reveal new ways to boost blood vessel growth, making treatments safer and more likely to be successful.