Targeted therapies in epithelial ovarian cancer: Molecular mechanisms of action

Figure 2 Vascular endothelium growth factor family members and their specific binding ligands. The mammalian vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF) family consists of seven structurally related glycoproteins with VEGF-A as the major mediator of tumor angiogenesis among them. The VEGF ligands bind to three structurally similar receptors, and each tyrosine kinase activates the intracellular signaling cascade, including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathways. Subsequently, the pro-angiogenic signaling pathways are activated. PLCγ: Phospholipase C γ; NP: Neuropilin; VEGFR: VEGF receptors; FLT: Fms-related tyrosine kinase; KDR: Kinase insert domain receptor.