The central role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in angiogenesis in health and disease makes it attractive both as a therapeutic target for anti-angiogenic drugs and as a pro-angiogenic cytokine for the treatment of ischaemic heart disease. While VEGF binds to two receptor protein tyrosine kinases, VEGFR1 (Flt-1) and VEGFR2 (KDR), most biological functions of VEGF are mediated via VEGFR2, and the role of VEGFR1 is currently unknown. Neuropilin-1, a non-tyrosine kinase transmembrane molecule, may function as a co-receptor for VEGFR2. Considerable progress has recently been made towards delineating the signal transduction pathways distal to activation of VEGFR2. Activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase, protein kinase C and Akt pathways are all strongly implicated in mediating diverse cellular biological functions of VEGF, including cell survival, proliferation, the generation of nitric oxide and prostacyclin and angiogenesis. Upregulation of metalloproteinases, activation of focal adhesion kinase and interactions between VEGF receptors and integrins are strongly implicated in VEGF-induced endothelial cell migration. Recent findings suggest important roles for the vasodilators nitric oxide and prostacyclin, in linking post-receptor signaling networks to downstream biological effects and in mediating some in vivo endothelial functions of VEGF.

During spermatogenesis in the mammalian testis, stem cells (spermatogonia) differentiate into spermatocytes, which subsequently undergo two consecutive meiotic divisions to give rise to haploid spermatids. These cells are initially round but progressively elongate, condense their nuclei, acquire flagellar and acrosomal structures, and shed a significant amount of their cytoplasm to form spermatozoa (the sperm cells) in a developmental cascade termed spermiogenesis. Defects in these processes will lead to a lack of mature sperm cells (azoospermia), which is a major cause of male infertility in the human population. Here we report that a cell-surface protein of the immunoglobulin superfamily, junctional adhesion molecule-C (JAM-C), is critically required for the differentiation of round spermatids into spermatozoa in mice. We found that Jam-C is essential for the polarization of round spermatids, a function that we attribute to its role in the assembly of a cell polarity complex.

Activation of the protein kinase Akt/PKB mediates VEGF-dependent endothelial cell survival and eNOS activation. Here we examined the role of PKC in mediating VEGF-induced Akt activation. The PKC inhibitors GF109203X and calphostin C inhibited VEGF-induced Akt activation. Rottlerin and Go6976, inhibitors with specificities for PKC delta and alpha, respectively, also strongly inhibited VEGF-induced Akt activation. VEGF-induced Akt activation was prevented by down-regulation of PKC induced by prolonged pretreatment with the phorbol ester, PMA. VEGF induced phosphorylation of PKC delta at Thr 505 in the activation loop, and this phosphorylation was inhibited by LY294002, suggesting that modulation of PKC delta activation by VEGF occurs distal to phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase. PKC and PI3K inhibitors both strongly reduced the stimulation of branching tubulogenesis by VEGF in vitro. The finding that PKC mediates VEGF-induced Akt activation identifies a novel signal transduction pathway through which Akt can be regulated by growth factors acting through receptor protein tyrosine kinases, and indicates that PKC-mediated Akt activity may play an essential role in VEGF-stimulated angiogenesis.

Jam-C(-/-) mice exhibit growth retardation and multilobular pneumonia concomitant with poor survival of the mice under conventional housing conditions. The deficient mice present a mega-oesophagus and have altered airway responsiveness. In addition, the number of circulating granulocytes is increased in Jam-C(-/-) mice as compared to control animals. These phenotypes probably reflect the different functions of JAM-C expressed by endothelial and mesenchymal cells. Indeed, the deregulation in the number of circulating granulocytes is caused by the lack of JAM-C expression on endothelial cells since rescuing endothelial expression of the protein in the Jam-C(-/-) mice is sufficient to restore homeostasis. More importantly, the rescue of vascular JAM-C expression is accompanied by better survival of deficient mice, suggesting that endothelial expression of JAM-C is mandatory for animal survival from opportunistic infections and fatal pneumonia.

We reported previously that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulates prostacyclin (PGI2) production via activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) cascade. In this paper, we examined the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in this pathway. VEGF-induced PGI2 generation and arachidonic acid release in human umbilical vein endothelial cells were inhibited by the PKC inhibitors GF109203X and calphostin C. VEGF increased PKC activity and immunoreactivity of the PKCδ, α and ε isoforms in particulate fractions of cells. PKC inhibitors blocked VEGF-induced activation of ERK, MEK (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase) and the cytosolic phospholipase A2, but had little effect on ERK activation induced by basic fibroblast growth factor. GF109203X, calphostin C and the PKCδ-selective inhibitor, rottlerin, did not inhibit activation of the KDR receptor for VEGF. Inhibition of Ca2+ fluxes using BAPTA/AM [1,2-bis-(o-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetra-acetic acid tetrakis(acetoxymethyl ester)] blocked VEGF-induced PGI2 production but did not inhibit ERK activation. Neither activation nor inhibition of the NO/cGMP pathway had any effect on VEGF induction of ERK activity and PGI2 synthesis. Wortmannin partially inhibited VEGF stimulation of PGI2 production, but did not inhibit VEGF-induced ERK activity. VEGF-induced ERK activation and PGI2 production were blocked by rottlerin, and VEGF increased association of PKCδ with Raf-1, the upstream activator of MEK. The PKC-selective inhibitor Go6976 did not inhibit ERK activation and had only a partial effect on PGI2 production. These findings indicate that activation of PKC plays a crucial role in VEGF signalling via the ERK cascade leading to PGI2 synthesis and suggest that the PKCδ isoform may be a key mediator of VEGF-induced activation of the ERK pathway via increased association with Raf-1.