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Background
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Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), also known as vascular permeability factor (VPF) and VEGF-A, and is a member of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family and encodes a protein that is often found as a disulfide linked homodimer. This protein is a glycosylated mitogen that specifically acts on endothelial cells and has various effects, including mediating increased vascular permeability, inducing angiogenesis, vasculogenesis and endothelial cell growth, promoting cell migration, and inhibiting apoptosis. Alternatively spliced transcript variants, encoding either freely secreted or cell-associated isoforms, have been characterized. Alternatively spliced isoforms of 110,121,145,165,183,189 and 206 amino acids in length are expressed in humans.
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