PDGF-C: a new performer in the neurovascular interplay

• PDGF-C promotes blood vessel growth and maturation.
• PDGF-C is a potent survival factor for different types of neurons.
• The expression and function of PDGF-C and its receptors differ from those of VEGF.
• PDGF-C may represent a new paradigm of neurovascular interaction and crosstalk.

The importance of neurovascular crosstalk in development, normal physiology, and pathologies is increasingly being recognized. Although vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a prototypic regulator of neurovascular interaction, has been studied intensively, defining other important regulators in this process is warranted. Recent studies have shown that platelet-derived growth factor C (PDGF-C) is both angiogenic and a neuronal survival factor, and it appears to be an important component of neurovascular crosstalk. Importantly, the expression pattern and functional properties of PDGF-C and its receptors differ from those of VEGF, and thus the PDGF-C-mediated neurovascular interaction may represent a new paradigm of neurovascular crosstalk.