Endothelial cells decode VEGF-mediated Ca2+ signaling patterns to produce distinct functional responses.

ABSTRACT: A single extracellular stimulus can promote diverse behaviors among isogenic cells by differentially regulated signaling networks. We examined Ca(2+) signaling in response to VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), a growth factor that can stimulate different behaviors in endothelial cells. We found that altering the amount of VEGF signaling in endothelial cells by stimulating them with different VEGF concentrations triggered distinct and mutually exclusive dynamic Ca(2+) signaling responses that correlated with different cellular behaviors. These behaviors were cell proliferation involving the transcription factor NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells) and cell migration involving MLCK (myosin light chain kinase). Further analysis suggested that this signal decoding was robust to t

SUBMITTER: Noren DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5301990 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature