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Activation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 in Bone Marrow Leads to Accumulation of Myeloid Cells: Role of Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor¹

Bruno Larrivée^*,, Ingrid Pollet and Aly Karsan^2,*,,,

^* Department of Experimental Medicine and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and Department of Medical Biophysics and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a secreted cytokine that plays a major role in the formation and maintenance of the hemopoietic and vascular compartments. VEGF and its receptors, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2, have been found to be expressed on subsets of normal and malignant hemopoietic cells, but the role of the individual receptors in hemopoiesis requires further study. Using a VEGFR-2 fusion protein that can be dimerized with a synthetic drug, we were able to specifically examine the effects of VEGFR-2 signaling in hemopoietic cells in vivo. Mice transplanted with bone marrow transduced with this inducible VEGFR-2 fusion protein demonstrated expansion of myeloid cells (Gr-1⁺, CD11b⁺). Levels of myeloid progenitors were also increased following VEGFR-2 activation, through autocrine and paracrine mechanisms, as measured by clonogenic progenitor assays. VEGFR-2 activation induced expression of GM-CSF and increased serum levels in vivo. Abrogation of GM-CSF activity, either with neutralizing Abs or by using GM-CSF-null hemopoietic cells, inhibited VEGFR-2-mediated myeloid progenitor activity. Our findings indicate that VEGF signaling through VEGFR-2 promotes myelopoiesis through GM-CSF-dependent and -independent mechanisms.