VEGFB Gene

VEGFB Gene

Gene Overview

Pathway Diagram

```mermaid
flowchart TD
BMAL1["BMAL1<br/>Circadian Regulator"]
HIF1A["HIF1A<br/>Hypoxia-Inducible Factor"]
VEGF["VEGF<br/>Vascular Endothelial<br/>Growth Factor"]
Angiogenesis["Angiogenesis<br/>Blood Vessel Formation"]
bevacizumab["Bevacizumab<br/>Anti-VEGF Therapy"]

ALS["ALS<br/>Amyotrophic Lateral<br/>Sclerosis"]
MS["Multiple Sclerosis<br/>Demyelinating Disease"]
Alzheimer["Alzheimer's Disease<br/>Neurodegeneration"]
Dementia["Dementia<br/>Cognitive Decline"]
TBI["Traumatic Brain Injury<br/>Acute Injury"]

Neuropathy["Neuropathy<br/>Nerve Damage"]
Inflammation["Inflammation<br/>Immune Response"]
Cancer["Cancer<br/>Malignancy"]

BMAL1 -->|"regulates"| VEGF
HIF1A -->|"regulates"| VEGF
VEGF -->|"promotes"| Angiogenesis
bevacizumab -->|"inhibits"| VEGF

VEGF -->|"activates"| ALS
VEGF -->|"expressed in"| MS
VEGF -->|"associated with"| Alzheimer
VEGF -->|"associated with"| Dementia
VEGF -->|"protective against"| TBI

VEGF -->|"expressed in"| Neuropathy
VEGF -->|"associated with"| Inflammation
VEGF -->|"activates"| Cancer

Angiogenesis -->|"supports"| TBI
Inflammation -->|"contributes to"| ALS
Inflammation -->|"contributes to"| MS

style VEGF fill:#006494
style BMAL1 fill:#4a1a6b
style HIF1A fill:#4a1a6b
style bevacizumab fill:#1b5e20
style Angiogenesis fill:#1b5e20
style TBI fill:#1b5e20
style ALS fill:#ef5350
style MS fill:#ef5350
style Alzheimer fill:

VEGFB Gene

Gene Overview

Pathway Diagram

<div class="infobox infobox-gene"> [@vegfb2020]
<table> [@vegfb2019]
<tr><th colspan="2" style="background:#e8f4ea;"><b>VEGFB</b></th></tr> [@vascular2021]
<tr><td><b>Full Name</b></td><td>Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor B</td></tr> [@vegfb2018]
<tr><td><b>Chromosomal Location</b></td><td>11q13.1</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>NCBI Gene ID</b></td><td>[7422](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/7422)</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>OMIM</b></td><td>[611539](https://www.omim.org/entry/611539)</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Ensembl ID</b></td><td>ENSG00000173511</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>UniProt</b></td><td>[P49763](https://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P49763)</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Associated Diseases</b></td><td>Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Diabetic Neuropathy, Ischemic Stroke</td></tr>
</table>
</div>

Overview

VEGFB encodes Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor B, a member of the VEGF family of growth factors. VEGFB primarily regulates vascular and lymphatic development, with specific roles in endothelial cell survival, metabolic functions, and fatty acid uptake. Unlike VEGFA, VEGFB has more specific tissue distribution and is particularly important in the heart, skeletal muscle, and nervous system. This page covers the gene's normal function, disease associations, expression patterns, and key research findings relevant to neurodegeneration.

Function

VEGFB is a member of the VEGF family:

Vascular Function

• Endothelial Cell Survival: Promotes survival of endothelial cells
• Metabolic Regulation: Regulates fatty acid uptake in endothelial cells
• Coronary Development: Essential for coronary vessel development
• Muscle Vascularization: Important for skeletal muscle blood supply

Neurovascular Function

• Cerebral Blood Flow: Regulates cerebral microvasculature
• [Blood-Brain Barrier](/entities/blood-brain-barrier): Maintains BBB integrity
• Neuroprotection: Direct neurotrophic effects on [neurons](/entities/neurons)
• Angiogenesis: Supports new blood vessel formation in the brain

Signaling Mechanisms

• VEGFR1 (FLT1): Primary receptor for VEGFB
• NRP1: Co-receptor enhancing VEGFB signaling
• Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans: Coreceptors on cell surface

Disease Associations

Alzheimer's Disease

• Altered VEGFB expression in AD brain
• Neurovascular dysfunction in AD involves VEGFB
• VEGFB protects against [Aβ](/proteins/amyloid-beta)-induced toxicity
• Promotes cerebral blood flow
• May enhance amyloid clearance

Parkinson's Disease

• VEGFB expression in substantia nigra
• Neuroprotective effects on dopaminergic neurons
• Supports cerebral blood flow
• May slow disease progression

Diabetic Neuropathy

• VEGFB improves peripheral nerve blood flow
• Promotes nerve regeneration
• Therapeutic potential in diabetic complications

Ischemic Stroke

• VEGFB promotes post-stroke angiogenesis
• Improves cerebral blood flow recovery
• Neuroprotective effects

Expression

VEGFB exhibits specific expression patterns:

• Heart: High expression in cardiac muscle
• Skeletal Muscle: Strong expression
• Brain: Moderate expression in neurons and glia
• Brown Adipose Tissue: Expression for metabolic function
• Endothelial Cells: Vascular expression
• Pancreas: Islet cell expression

• Hypoxia
• Metabolic signals
• Growth factors
• Inflammatory cytokines

Therapeutic Implications

VEGFB represents a therapeutic target for:

• Neurodegenerative disease modification
• Stroke recovery
• Diabetic neuropathy
• Cardiovascular diseases

• VEGFB agonists
• Gene therapy approaches
• VEGF-B pathway modulators

Key Publications

Cross-References

• [VEGFA](/genes/vegfa) - Related VEGF family member
• [FLT1](/genes/flt1) - VEGF receptor 1
• [KDR](/genes/kdr) - VEGF receptor 2
• [NRP1](/genes/nrp1) - Neuropilin co-receptor
• [Neurovascular Coupling](/mechanisms/neurovascular-coupling) - Pathway

See Also

• [Neurovascular Coupling](/mechanisms/neurovascular-coupling)

External Links

• [NCBI Gene: VEGFA](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/7422)
• [Ensembl: ENSG00000173511](https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000173511)
• [UniProt: P49763](https://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P49763)
• [GeneCards: VEGFA](https://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=VEGFA)
• [OMIM: VEGFA](https://omim.org/search?search=VEGFA)
• [Allen Brain Atlas: VEGFA](https://human.brain-map.org/microarray/search/show?search_term=VEGFA)

References

Pathway Diagram

The following diagram shows the key molecular relationships involving VEGFB Gene discovered through SciDEX knowledge graph analysis: