Harnessing the diverse power of VEGF in blood vessel growth

VEGF signalling pathways in vascular permeability

Problems with blood vessel contribute to heart attacks, strokes and blindness, and giving drugs to stimulate new vessel growth is a promising treatment for these conditions. One of the most effective treatments to stimulate blood vessel growth is a molecule called VEGF, but this molecule also makes blood vessels leaky. Leaky blood vessels cause a build-up of fluid in the body, a state known as oedema, which in turn can lead to organ damage. Professor Christiana Ruhrberg’s lab has been studying the effects of different types of VEGF, called isoforms, on blood vessel growth. In this project, they will look at whether different types of VEGF contribute differently to the increases in leaky blood vessels. They will measure the changes in amounts of different VEGF isoforms as healthy blood vessels become diseased. Then, using mice that have been engineered to only have certain of VEGF, they will work out which ones are linked to increased blood vessel leakage. They will also work out which other molecules work together with different VEGF isoforms to cause their unique effects. The project will determine whether it is possible to selectively target different VEGF isoforms to promote blood vessel growth without also causing excessive blood vessel leakage. This could lead to better strategies to grow new blood vessels without causing oedema.