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Placental Growth Factor-1 Attenuates Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A–Dependent Tumor Angiogenesis during ß Cell Carcinogenesis

¹ Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics, Department of Clinical-Biological Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland and ² Institute of Anatomy, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland

Requests for reprints: Gerhard Christofori, Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics, Department of Clinical Biological Sciences, University of Basel, Mattenstrasse 28, 4058 Basel, Switzerland. Phone: 41-61-267-35-64; Fax: 41-61-267-35-66; E-mail: Gerhard.christofori{at}unibas.ch.

Members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family are critical players in angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. Although VEGF-A has been shown to exert fundamental functions in physiologic and pathologic angiogenesis, the exact role of the VEGF family member placental growth factor (PlGF) in tumor angiogenesis has remained controversial. To gain insight into PlGF function during tumor angiogenesis, we have generated transgenic mouse lines expressing human PlGF-1 in the ß cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans (Rip1PlGF-1). In single-transgenic Rip1PlGF-1 mice, intra-insular blood vessels are found highly dilated, whereas islet physiology is unaffected. Upon crossing of these mice with the Rip1Tag2 transgenic mouse model of pancreatic ß cell carcinogenesis, tumors of double-transgenic Rip1Tag2;Rip1PlGF-1 mice display reduced growth due to attenuated tumor angiogenesis. The coexpression of transgenic PlGF-1 and endogenous VEGF-A in the ß tumor cells of double-transgenic animals causes the formation of low-angiogenic hPlGF-1/mVEGF-A heterodimers at the expense of highly angiogenic mVEGF-A homodimers resulting in diminished tumor angiogenesis and reduced tumor infiltration by neutrophils, known to contribute to the angiogenic switch in Rip1Tag2 mice. The results indicate that the ratio between the expression levels of two members of the VEGF family of angiogenic factors, PlGF-1 and VEGF-A, determines the overall angiogenic activity and, thus, the extent of tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth. [Cancer Res 2007;67(22):10840–8]