| First Author | Fitz LJ | Year | 1997 |
| Journal | Oncogene | Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 613-8 |
| PubMed ID | 9247316 | Mgi Jnum | J:46616 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1201694 | Doi | 10.1038/sj.onc.1201191 |
| Citation | Fitz LJ, et al. (1997) Characterization of murine Flt4 ligand/VEGF-C. Oncogene 15(5):613-8 |
| abstractText | Flt4 is a receptor protein tyrosine kinase that is expressed in the adult lymphatic endothelium and high endothelial venules. We have used a BIAcore assay to identify rodent and human cell conditioned media containing the ligand of Flt4 (Flt4-L). Receptor-based affinity chromatography was used to purify this growth factor, followed by amino acid sequencing and molecular cloning of the murine cDNA, the orthologue of human vascular endothelial growth factor-C and vascular endothelial growth factor related protein. The murine flt4-L gene was localized to chromosome 8 and demonstrated to be widely expressed. Flt4-L was found to have a hydrophobic signal sequence and a pro-peptide-like sequence that is removed to generate the mature N-terminus. In addition, the C-terminal region of Flt4-L has four repeats of a cysteine-rich motif that is presumably also proteolytically processed to generate the 21000 Mr polypeptide subunit of the Flt4-L homodimer. Recombinant Flt4-L activated Flt4 as judged by induction of tyrosyl phosphorylation, and induced mitogenesis in vitro of lymphatic endothelial cells. |
