Evaluation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Its Family Member Expression After Peripheral Nerve Regeneration and Denervation

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) represents one of the main factors involved not only in angiogenesis and vasculogenesis but also in neuritogenesis. VEGF plays its function acting via different receptors: VEGF receptor1 (VEGFR-1), VEGF receptor2 (VEGFR-2), VEGF receptor3 (VEGFR-3), and co-receptors Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) and Neuropilin-2 (NRP2). This study reports on the first in vivo analysis of the expression of VEGF and VEGF family molecules in peripheral nerve degeneration and regeneration: for this purpose, different models of nerve lesion in rat were adopted, the median nerve crush injury and the median nerve transaction followed or not by end-to end microsurgical repair. Results obtained by real time polymerase chain reaction showed that VEGF and VEGF family molecules are differentially expressed under regenerating and degenerating condition, furthermore, in order to study the modulation and involvement of these factors in two different regenerative models, crush injury and end-to-end repair, protein expression analysis was evaluated. In addition, immunohistochemical analysis allowed to state a glial localization of VEGF and VEGFR-2 after peripheral nerve crush injury. Finally in vitro assay on primary Schwann cells culture show that VEGF165 stimulation increases Schwann cells migration, a major process in the promotion of neurite outgrowth. Anat Rec, 301:1646-1656, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Appropriate Animal Models for Translational Nerve Research

“…Furthermore, peripheral nerve lesions to the upper limb show a higher prevalence than those to the lower limb in the clinic (Kouyoumdjian et al 2017). Therefore, the rat median nerve injury and repair model is considered to be appropriate for extrapolation toward human upper limb or digital nerve injuries (Jager et al 2014;Muratori et al 2018;Ronchi et al 2018;Dietzmeyer et al 2019). With regard to ethical concerns, this model also represents with the advantage that lesion only partially impairs the upper limb function, because sensitivity and specific motor functions are preserved through innervation by the ulnar and the radial nerve (Bertelli et al 1995;Sinis et al 2006;Jager et al 2014).…”

The immunologic changes during different phases of intestinal anastomotic healing

“…82,83 There are five members in VEGF family including VEFG-A, VEFG-B, VEFG-C, VEFG-D, and placenta growth factor (PLGF). 84 Among them, VEGF-A participates in the process of wound healing, its transcription and secretion will be elevated and reach the peak at the approximately 7th day after injury. And it mainly influences the proliferative phase.…”

Ex-Vivo Stimulation of Adipose Stem Cells by Growth Factors and Fibrin-Hydrogel Assisted Delivery Strategies for Treating Nerve Gap-Injuries

“…Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on the other hand is a potent angiogenic factor, which promotes proliferation of endothelial cells, formation and permeability of vascular structures [ 35 ]. Nevertheless, several studies demonstrated VEGF for having neurotrophic activities that were mediated either by flk-1 and flt-1 receptor binding or by enhanced vascularization [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ].…”