Unexpected Autocrine Role of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Squamous Cell Carcinoma

In a 2009 study by Mirones et al., it was discovered that Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) plays an autocrine role in squamous cell carcinoma, which was previously unknown. The study utilized transgenic mice with VEGF-deficient keratinocytes and found that these cells could still form tumors, but with different aneuploidy patterns and signaling pathways compared to VEGF-proficient cells. The research showed that VEGF-deficient cells had reduced in vitro growth and lung colonization abilities, indicating that VEGF has roles beyond angiogenesis in tumor cell behavior. This finding has implications for cancer treatment, suggesting that combining ras blockade with tyrosine kinase blockade might be necessary to overcome resistance in solid tumors. Additionally, the study touched on the genetic factors that determine hair form and texture, noting the importance of the keratin intermediate filament (KIF) and keratin-associated protein (KAP) gene families, and how mutations in these genes can lead to hair disorders. Conditions like Menkes' syndrome were also mentioned as causing hair fragility due to keratinization abnormalities.