Skip to main content
. 2012 Apr 11;103(7):1177–1181. doi: 10.1111/j.1349-7006.2012.02270.x

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Cancer stem cell (CSC) niche of a skin cancer model. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) produced by CSC in skin cancer stimulate endothelial cells (EC) and CSC themselves by paracrine and autocrine loops. Vascular endothelial growth factor induces angiogenesis, resulting in expansion of the vascular niche region and also induction of self‐renewal of CSC at the same time. It has been suggested that Nrp1 on CSC is a receptor for VEGF; however, a co‐receptor of Nrp1 has not been identified. VEGFR, VEGF receptor.