Abstract
Growth factors and their respective receptors are key regulators during development and for homeostasis of the nervous system. In addition, changes in growth factor function, availability or downstream signaling is involved in many neuropathological disorders like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke and brain tumours. Research of the recent years revealed that some growth factors, initially discovered as neural growth factors are also affecting blood vessels [e.g. nerve growth factor (NGF) or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)]. Likewise, vascular growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which was previously described as an endothelial cell specific mitogen, also affect neural cells. The discovery of shared growth factors affecting the vascular and the nervous system is of relevance for potential therapies of vascular and neurological diseases. This review aims to give an overview about the growing field of common growth factors and receptors within the two different networks.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Frank Bicker, Stefan Liebner, Stefan Momma, Anne Schänzer and Ina Wittko for helpful discussions of our experimental work described in the review. We are grateful to Amparo Acker-Palmer and Friedemann Kiefer for their critical reading and expert comments on specific parts of the manuscript. Our work on VEGF functions in the nervous system has been supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SPP1109), grant numbers PL 158/5-1, -2, -3 and the German Israeli Foundation grant no. I-740-102.1.
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Raab, S., Plate, K.H. Different networks, common growth factors: shared growth factors and receptors of the vascular and the nervous system. Acta Neuropathol 113, 607–626 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-007-0228-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-007-0228-3