Human lactoferrin upregulates expression of KDR/Flk-1 and stimulates VEGF-A-mediated endothelial cell proliferation and migration

Chan Woo Kim, Kyung No Son, Sang Yun Choi, Jiyoung Kim

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    42 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Lactoferrin (LF) is a multifunctional iron-binding glycoprotein, which plays a variety of biological processes including immunity. In this study, we demonstrate that human LF upregulates KDR/Flk-1 mRNA and protein levels in HUVECs at an optimal concentration of 5 μg/ml, which subsequently promotes the VEGF-induced proliferation and migration of the endothelial cells. Exposure of HUVECs to LF significantly increased VEGF-induced ERK MAP kinase phosphorylation. The maximal stimulation of KDR/Flk-1 expression by LF was correlated with LF-induced increase in cell proliferation and migration. These findings suggest that LF may stimulate in vivo angiogenesis via upregulation of KDR/Flk-1 expression in endothelial cells.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)4332-4336
    Number of pages5
    JournalFEBS Letters
    Volume580
    Issue number18
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2006 Aug 7

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by Grant No. R01-2004-000-10481-0 from the Basic Research Program of the Korea Science & Engineering Foundation.

    Keywords

    • KDR/Flk-1
    • Lactoferrin
    • Migration
    • Proliferation
    • VEGF

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biophysics
    • Structural Biology
    • Biochemistry
    • Molecular Biology
    • Genetics
    • Cell Biology

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