Investigative ophthalmology & visual science
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Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Jun 1996
Hypoxia regulates vascular endothelial growth factor receptor KDR/Flk gene expression through adenosine A2 receptors in retinal capillary endothelial cells.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an endothelial cell-specific angiogenic factor that serves an important role in numerous ischemic retinopathies. The authors studied the hypoxic gene regulation of two known VEGF receptors (KDR and Flt) and its mechanism in cultured bovine retinal endothelial cells (BREC). ⋯ These data suggest that hypoxia induces an initial decline in KDR mRNA levels and VEGF binding sites as mediated through adenosine binding to the A2R. Exposure to prolonged periods of hypoxia, however, results in an increase in VEGF binding sites by an as yet unidentified mechanism.