Patent ID: 7566566

Claim:
A method of modulating the growth of mammalian endothelial cells or mammalian endothelial precursor cells, comprising the step of contacting the cells with a polypeptide in an amount effective to modulate the growth of mammalian endothelial cells, wherein the polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence at least 95% identical to a chimeric vascular endothelial growth factor amino acid sequence of the formula: NH 2 -X 1 -X 2 -X 3 -X 4 -X 5 -X 6 -X 7 -X 8 -X 9 -COOH wherein X 1 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of amino acids 3-11 of SEQ ID NO: 128 and amino acids 3-11 of SEQ ID NO: 137; wherein X 2 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 129 and 138; wherein X 3 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 130 and 139; wherein X 4 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 131 and 140; wherein X 5 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 132 and 141; wherein X 6 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 133 and 142; wherein X 7 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 134 and 143; wherein X 8 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 135 and 144; wherein X 9 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 136 and 145; wherein NH 2 -X 1 -X 2 -X 3 -X 4 -X 5 -X 6 -X 7 -X 8 -X 9 -COOH is not identical to amino acids 34 to 135 of SEQ ID NO: 2 or amino acids 112 to 216 of SEQ ID NO: 22; and wherein the polypeptide binds to at least one receptor selected from the group consisting of human VEGFR-1, human VEGFR-2, and human VEGFR-3.