RESUMO
PURPOSE: VEGF has been shown to be necessary, but not sufficient alone, for the development of subretinal pathologic angiogenesis. In the current study, the influence of placental growth factor (PlGF), a member of the VEGF family, in human and experimental choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was investigated. METHODS: The presence of VEGF family member mRNA was evaluated by RT-PCR in neovascular membranes extracted during surgery. The spatial and temporal pattern of VEGF isoforms and PlGF mRNA expression were explored by using the laser capture catapulting technique and RT-PCR in a murine laser-induced model and in vitro. PlGF expression was also studied in human donor eyes. The influence of endogenous PlGF was evaluated in deficient mice (PlGF(-/-)) and by antibody-mediated neutralization of the PlGF receptor. RESULTS: Human neovascular membranes consistently expressed VEGF-A, -B, and -C; PlGF; and VEGFR-1 and -2. The VEGF(120) isoform mRNA was primarily induced in early stages of angiogenesis in vivo and in vitro. PlGF mRNA expression was present in the intact choroid and significantly upregulated during the course of experimental CNV. Both deficient PlGF expression in PlGF(-/-) mice and PlGF receptor neutralization in wild-type mice prevented the development of choroidal neovascularization induced by laser. CONCLUSIONS: These observations demonstrate the participation of PlGF in experimental CNV. They identify therefore PlGF as an additional promising target for ocular antiangiogenic strategies.
Assuntos
Indutores da Angiogênese/genética , Neovascularização de Coroide/metabolismo , Proteínas da Gravidez/genética , Indutores da Angiogênese/metabolismo , Animais , Animais Geneticamente Modificados , Neovascularização de Coroide/patologia , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Fatores de Crescimento Endotelial/genética , Fatores de Crescimento Endotelial/metabolismo , Feminino , Técnica Indireta de Fluorescência para Anticorpo , Humanos , Peptídeos e Proteínas de Sinalização Intercelular/genética , Peptídeos e Proteínas de Sinalização Intercelular/metabolismo , Linfocinas/genética , Linfocinas/metabolismo , Masculino , Camundongos , Fator de Crescimento Placentário , Proteínas da Gravidez/metabolismo , Isoformas de Proteínas , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa , Fator A de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular , Receptor 1 de Fatores de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/genética , Receptor 1 de Fatores de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/metabolismo , Receptor 2 de Fatores de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/genética , Receptor 2 de Fatores de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/metabolismo , Fatores de Crescimento do Endotélio VascularRESUMO
PURPOSE: To explain the conflicting reports about the influence of plasminogen activator inhibitor type (PAI-1) on pathologic angiogenesis, such as occurs during the exudative form of age-related macular degeneration. METHODS: The expression of PAI-1 mRNA was analyzed in human and murine choroidal neovascularization (CNV) by RT-PCR. The influences of increasing doses of recombinant PAI-1 were evaluated by daily intraperitoneal injections in PAI-1(-/-) and wild-type animals with a model of laser-induced CNV. The double mechanism of action of PAI-1 (proteolytic activity inhibition versus vitronectin binding) was explored by immunohistochemical localization of fibrinogen/fibrin and by injection of recombinant PAI-1 protein defective for vitronectin binding or with adenoviral vectors bearing a mutated binding-deficient PAI-1 gene. RESULTS: PAI-1 expression was present in human CNV and strongly induced in the course of experimental subretinal neovascularization. Daily injections of recombinant PAI-1 proteins in control and PAI-1(-/-) animals demonstrated that PAI-1 could exhibit both pro- and antiangiogenic effects, dependent on the dose. PAI-1 mutants defective for vitronectin binding were used to show that PAI-1 promotes choroidal pathologic angiogenesis merely through its antiproteolytic activity. CONCLUSIONS: These observations may help to reconcile reports with opposite results regarding the effects of PAI-1 on angiogenesis and certainly warn against uncontrolled use of PAI-1-modulating drugs in clinical trials.