Endothelial cell FGF signaling is required for injury response but not for vascular homeostasis

Abstract

Significance FGF receptor (FGFR) signaling is thought to be essential for vascular development, homeostasis, and pathological angiogenesis. However, the in vivo requirements and the cellular targets of FGF in the vasculature are not known. Here, we show that endothelial FGFR1 and FGFR2 are not required for vascular homeostasis or physiological functions and are likely not required for embryonic development. However, endothelial FGFR1 and FGFR2 are essential for neovascularization after skin or eye injury or following retinal ischemia. These findings reveal a key requirement for cell-autonomous endothelial FGFR signaling in tissue repair and neovascularization following injury and validate the endothelial cell FGFR as a target for diseases associated with aberrant vascular proliferation such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and wound healing.