Exp Mol Med.  2012 Jan;44(1):10-19. 10.3858/emm.2012.44.1.023.

Role of placenta growth factor in cancer and inflammation

• Kim KJ
• Cho CS
• Kim WU

• KMID: 1120137
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3858/emm.2012.44.1.023

Abstract

Accumulating evidences have documented that angiogenesis is closely linked to inflammation and regulators of angiogenesis play key roles in various inflammatory conditions. PlGF is an angiogenic protein belonging to the VEGF family and is upregulated mainly in pathologic conditions. Recently, PlGF was discovered having a proinflammatory role in inflammatory arthritis and its serum level drew attention not only as a useful surrogate biomarker but also a potential therapeutic target in atherosclerosis and various cancers. Particularly, PlGF has attractive clinical values because endogenous PlGF is redundant for vascular development and physiological vessel maintenance in healthy adults. However, there have been conflicting results about the efficacy of PlGF inhibition depending on the experimental and clinical settings. Further close investigations for resolving the puzzle of PlGF biology are required.

Keyword

angiogenesis inducing agents; inflammation; neoplasms; neovascularization, pathologic; placenta growth factor

MeSH Terms

Animals
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*metabolism/pathology
Atherosclerosis/*metabolism/pathology
Biological Markers/metabolism
Humans
Inflammation/metabolism
Neoplasms/*metabolism/pathology
Neovascularization, Pathologic
Pregnancy Proteins/*metabolism
Signal Transduction