Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) is a member of the platelet-derived growth factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (PDGF/VEGF) family, is active in angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis and endothelial cell growth and survival, and can also affect the permeability of blood vessels. VEGF-C is expressed in various tissues, however it is not produced in peripheral blood lymphocytes. It forms cell surface-associated non-covalent disulfide linked homodimers, and can bind and activate both VEGFR-2 (flk1) and VEGFR-3 (flt4) receptors. The structure and function of VEGF-C is similar to those of vascular endothelial growth factor D (VEGF-D).
Recombinant human VEGF-C produced in HEK293 cells is a polypeptide chain containing 126 amino acids. A fully biologically active molecule, rhVEGF-C has a molecular mass of 16-19 kDa analyzed by reducing SDS-PAGE and is obtained by chromatographic techniques at GenScript.