Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

UC San Diego

UC San Diego Previously Published Works bannerUC San Diego

VEGF modulates synaptic activity in the developing spinal cord

Abstract

Although it has been documented that the nervous and the vascular systems share numerous analogies and are closely intermingled during development and pathological processes, interactions between the two systems are still poorly described. In this study, we investigated whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is a key regulator of vascular development, also modulates neuronal developmental processes. We report that VEGF enhances the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)/glycinergic but not glutamatergic synaptic activity in embryonic spinal motoneurons (MNs), without affecting MNs excitability. In response to VEGF, the frequency of these synaptic events but not their amplitude was increased. Blocking endogenous VEGF led to an opposite effect by decreasing frequency of synaptic events. We found that this effect occurred specifically at early developmental stages (E13.5 and E15.5) and vanished at the prenatal stage E17.5. Furthermore, VEGF was able to increase vesicular inhibitory amino acid transporter density at the MN membrane. Inhibition of single VEGF receptors did not modify electrophysiological parameters indicating receptor combinations or an alternative pathway. Altogether, our findings identify VEGF as a modulator of the neuronal activity during synapse formation and highlight a new ontogenic role for this angiogenic factor in the nervous system.

Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.

Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Current View