Biallelic inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene predisposes human patients to the development of highly vascularized
neoplasms in multiple organ systems. We show that zebrafish vhl mutants display a marked increase in blood vessel formation throughout the embryo, starting at 2 days post-fertilization. The most severe neovascularization is observed in distinct areas that overlap with high vegfa
mRNA expression, including the vhl mutant brain and eye. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed increased expression of the duplicated VEGFA orthologs vegfaa and vegfab, and of vegfb and its receptors flt1, kdr and kdr-like, indicating increased
vascular endothelial growth factor (
Vegf) signaling in vhl mutants. Similar to VHL-associated
retinal neoplasms,
diabetic retinopathy and
age-related macular degeneration, we show, by
tetramethyl rhodamine-dextran angiography, that vascular abnormalities in the vhl(-/-) retina lead to vascular leakage, severe
macular edema and
retinal detachment. Significantly, vessels in the brain and eye express cxcr4a, a marker gene expressed by
tumor and vascular cells in VHL-associated
hemangioblastomas and
renal cell carcinomas.
VEGF receptor (VEGFR)
tyrosine kinase inhibition (through exposure to
sunitinib and 676475) blocked vhl(-/-)-induced angiogenesis in all affected tissues, demonstrating that Vegfaa, Vegfab and Vegfb are key effectors of the vhl(-/-) angiogenic phenotype through Flt1, Kdr and Kdr-like signaling. Since we show that the vhl(-/-) angiogenic phenotype shares distinct characteristics with VHL-associated
vascular neoplasms, zebrafish vhl mutants provide a valuable in vivo vertebrate model to elucidate underlying mechanisms contributing to the development of these lesions. Furthermore, vhl mutant zebrafish embryos carrying blood vessel-specific transgenes represent a unique and clinically relevant model for tissue-specific,
hypoxia-induced
pathological angiogenesis and vascular retinopathies. Importantly, they will allow for a cost-effective, non-invasive and efficient way to screen for novel pharmacological agents and combinatorial treatments.