Regulation of Vegf signaling by natural and synthetic ligands

Abstract

The mechanisms that allow cells to bypass anti-vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) therapy remain poorly understood. Here we use zebrafish to investigate this question and first show that <i>vegfaa</i> mutants display a severe vascular phenotype that can surprisingly be rescued to viability by <i>vegfaa</i> messenger RNA injections at the 1-cell stage. Using <i>vegfaa</i> mutants as an in vivo test tube, we found that zebrafish Vegfbb, Vegfd, and Pgfb can also rescue these animals to viability. Taking advantage of a new <i>vegfr1</i> tyrosine kinase-deficient mutant, we determined that Pgfb rescues <i>vegfaa</i> mutants via Vegfr1. Altogether, these data reveal potential resistance routes against current anti-VEGFA therapies. In order to circumvent this resistance, we engineered and validated new dominant negative Vegfa molecules that by trapping Vegf family members can block vascular development. Thus, our results show that Vegfbb, Vegfd, and Pgfb can sustain vascular development in the absence of VegfA, and our newly engineered Vegf molecules expand the toolbox for basic research and antiangiogenic therapy.