Vascular permeability factor (VPF) is a 40-kilodalton disulfide-linked dimeric glycoprotein that is active in increasing blood vessel permeability, endothelial cell growth, and angiogenesis. These properties suggest that the expression of VPF by tumor cells could contribute to the increased neovascularization and vessel permeability that are associated with tumor vasculature. The cDNA sequence of VPF from human U937 cells was shown to code for a 189-amino acid polypeptide that is similar in structure to the B chain of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-B) and other PDGF-B-related proteins. The overall identity with PDGF-B is 18%. However, all eight of the cysteines in PDGF-B were found to be conserved in human VPF, an indication that the folding of the two proteins is probably similar. Clusters of basic amino acids in the COOH-terminal halves of human VPF and PDGF-B are also prevalent. Thus, VPF appears to be related to the PDGF/v-sis family of proteins.

Vascular permeability factor (VPF) is an Mr 40-kD protein that has been purified from the conditioned medium of guinea pig line 10 tumor cells grown in vitro, and increases fluid permeability from blood vessels when injected intradermally. Addition of VPF to cultures of vascular endothelial cells in vitro unexpectedly stimulated cellular proliferation. VPF promoted the growth of new blood vessels when administered into healing rabbit bone grafts or rat corneas. The identity of the growth factor activity with VPF was established in four ways: (a) the molecular weight of the activity in preparative SDS-PAGE was the same as VPF (M, 40 kD); (b) multiple isoforms (pI 2 8) for both VPF and the growth-promoting activity were observed; (c) a single, unique NH2-terminal amino acid sequence was obtained; (d) both growth factor and permeabilityenhancing activities were immunoadsorbed using antipeptide IgG that recognized the amino terminus of VPF. Furthermore,

As a treatment for dyslipidemia, oral doses of 1-3 grams of nicotinic acid per day lower serum triglycerides, raise high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and reduce mortality from coronary heart disease ( Tavintharan

SummarySystemic infusion of low concentrations of tumor necrosis factor/cachectin (TNF) into mice that bear TNF-sensitive tumors leads to activation of coagulation, fibrin formation, and occlusive thrombosis exclusively within the tumor vascular bed . To identify mechanisms underlying the localization of this vascular procoagulant response, a tumor-derived polypeptide has been purified to homogeneity from supernatants of murine methylcholanthrene A-induced fibrosarcomas that induces endothelial tissue factor synthesis and expression (half-maximal response at -300 pM), and augments the procoagulant response to TNF in a synergistic fashion. This tumor-derived polypeptide was identified as the murine homologue ofvascular permeability factor (VPF) based on similar mobility on SDS-PAGE, an homologous NH2-terminal amino acid sequence, and recognition by a monospecific antibody to guinea pig VPF. In addition, VPF was shown to induce monocyte activation, as evidenced by expression of tissue factor. Finally, VPF was shown to induce monocyte chemotaxis across collagen membranes and endothelial cell monolayers . Taken together, these results indicate that VPF can modulate the coagulant properties of endothelium and monocytes, and can promote monocyte migration into the tumor bed. This suggests one mechanism through which tumor-derived mediators can alter properties of the vessel wall.

High-throughput screening (HTS) of compound libraries is used to discover novel leads for drug development. When a structure is available for the target, computer-based screening using molecular docking may also be considered. The two techniques have rarely been used together on the same target. The opportunity to do so presented itself in a project to discover novel inhibitors for the enzyme protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP1B), a tyrosine phosphatase that has been implicated as a key target for type II diabetes. A corporate library of approximately 400 000 compounds was screened using high-throughput experimental techniques for compounds that inhibited PTP1B. Concurrently, molecular docking was used to screen approximately 235 000 commercially available compounds against the X-ray crystallographic structure of PTP1B, and 365 high-scoring molecules were tested as inhibitors of the enzyme.Of approximately 400 000 molecules tested in the high-throughput experimental assay, 85 (0.021%) inhibited the enzyme with IC 50 values less than 100 µM; the most active had an IC 50 value of 4.2 µM. Of the 365 molecules suggested by molecular docking, 127 (34.8%) inhibited PTP1B with IC 50 values less than 100 µM; the most active of these had an IC 50 of 1.7 µM. Structure-based docking therefore enriched the hit rate by 1700-fold over random screening. The hits from both the high-throughput and docking screens were dissimilar from phosphotyrosine, the canonical substrate group for PTP1B; the two hit lists were also very different from each other. Surprisingly, the docking hits were judged to be more druglike than the HTS hits. The diversity of both hit lists and their dissimilarity from each other suggest that docking and HTS may be complementary techniques for lead discovery.