Phylogenetic Analysis of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Diversity

Turkish Journal of Biology

MURAT KASAP¹ 

关键词: Vascular endothelial growth factor;    phylogeny;    evolution;   

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey - TUBITAK

【 摘 要 】

The secreted glycoprotein vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent and specific mitogen for vascular endothelial cells, capable of stimulating angiogenesis during embryonic development and tumor formation. Despite intensive research, the functions of several VEGF family members remain a mystery. Insight into their evolutionary relationships could profoundly improve our understanding of why there are so many VEGFs and why we have not been able to dissect their function to our satisfaction. It appears from the presence of several structurally related VEGF proteins that VEGF proteins do have a long divergence history. We investigated the evolution and phylogenetic relationships among VEGF proteins by using the information from the molecular data. Consistent phylogenetic trees were generated with character-based and distance-based methods. Several gene duplication events were detected that led to the formation of today's VEGF diversity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown