Immunohistochemical localization of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors-1, -2 and -3 in human spinal cord: altered expression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has recently been implicated in several neurological disorders. Apart from its prominent role in angiogenesis, VEGF has been shown to have direct effects on neuronal and glial cells through activation of different VEGF receptor (VEGFR) types. In the present study the expression patterns of VEGFR‐1, ‐2 and ‐3 were investigated in the spinal cord of control and both sporadic and familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. Immunocytochemical analysis of control human spinal cord demonstrated that VEGFR‐1, but not VEGFR‐2 or ‐3 was found to be present in blood vessels of both white and grey matter. All three VGEFRs were not detectable in resting glial cells of control tissue. Diffuse neuropil staining was observed in the control spinal cord grey matter for VEGFR‐3. Regional differences in VEGFRs immunoreactivity (IR) were apparent in ALS compared to controls. In particular, VEGFR‐1 expression was increased in reactive astroglial cells in both grey (ventral horn) and white matter of ALS spinal cord. In addition to the astroglial labelling, increased expression of VEGFR‐1 and, to a less extent also of VEGFR‐2, was observed in blood vessels of the ALS spinal cord. No changes in VEGFR‐3 IR were detected in blood vessels or reactive astroglial cells, whereas VEGFR‐3 neuropil expression was reduced and paralleled the distribution of neuronal loss in the ventral horn of ALS spinal cord. These findings indicate that VEGFRs have specific distribution patterns, suggesting different physiological functions in human spinal cord. Moreover, the altered expression observed in ALS supports a role for these receptors in the complex reactive processes that are associated with the progression of spinal cord damage.