2xv7
Crystal structure of vascular endothelial growth factor DCrystal structure of vascular endothelial growth factor D
Structural highlights
FunctionVEGFD_HUMAN Growth factor active in angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis and endothelial cell growth, stimulating their proliferation and migration and also has effects on the permeability of blood vessels. May function in the formation of the venous and lymphatic vascular systems during embryogenesis, and also in the maintenance of differentiated lymphatic endothelium in adults. Binds and activates VEGFR-2 (KDR/FLK1) and VEGFR-3 (FLT4) receptors.[1] Publication Abstract from PubMedVascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and their tyrosine kinase receptors (VEGFR-1-3) are central mediators of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. VEGFR-3 ligands VEGF-C and VEGF-D are produced as precursor proteins with long N- and C-terminal propeptides and show enhanced VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3 binding upon proteolytic removal of the propeptides. Two different proteolytic cleavage sites have been reported in the VEGF-D N-terminus. We report here the crystal structure of the human VEGF-D Cys117Ala mutant at 2.9 A resolution. Comparison of the VEGF-D and VEGF-C structures shows similar extended N-terminal helices, conserved overall folds and VEGFR-2 interacting residues. Consistent with this, the affinity and the thermodynamic parameters for VEGFR-2 binding are very similar. In comparison with VEGF-C structures, however, the VEGF-D N-terminal helix was extended by two more turns because of a better resolution. Both receptor binding and functional assays of N-terminally truncated VEGF-D polypeptides indicated that the residues between the reported proteolytic cleavage sites are important for VEGF-D binding and activation of VEGFR-3, but not of VEGFR-2. Thus, we define here a VEGFR-2 specific form of VEGF-D that is angiogenic, but not lymphangiogenic. These results provide important new insights into VEGF-D structure and function. Structural determinants of vascular endothelial growth factor-D - receptor binding and specificity.,Leppanen VM, Jeltsch M, Anisimov A, Tvorogov D, Aho K, Kalkkinen N, Toivanen P, Yla-Herttuala S, Ballmer-Hofer K, Alitalo K Blood. 2010 Dec 8. PMID:21148085[2] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. See AlsoReferences
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