Description
VEGF-R2 belongs to a family of proteins called receptor tyrosine kinases. The receptor has three main parts: one part extends out of the cell and binds to VEGF, another spans the cell’s membrane, while the third part is found inside the cell. The current model of VEGF-R2 activation is that VEGF binds to individual VEGF-R2 receptor proteins on the membrane, and brings two of them close enough to form a complex called a dimer. The receptor dimer is activated and initiates signaling within the cell. VEGF-R2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) which transduces biochemical signals via lateral dimerization in the plasma membrane. Like most RTKs, VEGF-R2 is composed of an extracellular (EC) domain, a transmembrane (TM) domain, and an intracellular (IC) domain consisting of a kinase domain and sequences required for downstream signaling. The EC domain consists of seven immunoglobulin homology (Ig) domains, termed D1 (at the N-terminus) to D7 (closest to the membrane). VEGF-R2 binds to, and is activated by the ligands VEGF-A, VEGF-E, and a number of processed forms of VEGF-C and VEGF-D. Ligand binding to VEGF-R2 is mediated by Ig-domains 2 and 3 and the linker between D2 and D3.