Soluble forms of VEGF receptor-1 and -2 promote vascular maturation via mural cell recruitment.

Two soluble forms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors, sVEGFR-1 and sVEGFR-2, are physiologically released and overproduced in some pathologies. They are known to act as anti-VEGF agents. Here, we report that these soluble receptors contribute to vessel maturation by mediating a dialogue between endothelial cells (EC) and mural cells that leads to blood vessel stabilization. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we provide evidences that these soluble VEGF receptors promote mural cell migration through a paracrine mechanism involving interplay in EC between VEGF/VEGFR-2 and sphingosine-1- phosphate type-1 (S1P)/S1P1 pathways that leads to endothelial nitric oxyde synthase (eNOS) activation. This new paradigm is supported by the finding that sVEGFR-1 and -2: 1) induce an eNOS-dependent outgrowth of a mural cell network in an ex vivo model of angiogenesis, 2) increase the mural cell coverage of neovessels in vitro and in vivo, 3) promote mural cell migration towards EC, 4) stimulate endothelial S1P1 overproduction and eNOS activation that promote the migration and the recruitment of neighboring mural cells. These findings provide new insights into mechanisms regulating physiological and pathological angiogenesis and vessel stabilization.