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In the present study, we generated NLK deficient animals and found that these mice become cyanotic shortly before death because of lung maturation defects. NLK\u2212\/\u2212 lungs exhibited smaller and compressed alveoli and the mesenchyme remained thick and hyperplastic. This phenotype was caused by epithelial activation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) via recruitment of Lef1 to the promoter of VEGF. Elevated expression of VEGF and activation of the VEGF receptor through phosphorylation promoted an increase in the proliferation rate of epithelial and endothelial cells. In summary, our study identifies NLK as a novel signaling molecule for proper lung development through the interconnection between epithelial and endothelial cells during lung morphogenesis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/srep23987","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,4,1]],"date-time":"2016-04-01T13:58:58Z","timestamp":1459519138000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Nemo-like kinase regulates the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in alveolar epithelial cells"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Hengning","family":"Ke","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Katarzyna Chmielarska","family":"Masoumi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kristofer","family":"Ahlqvist","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael J.","family":"Seckl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kristina","family":"Rydell-T\u00f6rm\u00e4nen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ramin","family":"Massoumi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,4,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"BFsrep23987_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1034\/j.1399-0004.1999.560103.x","volume":"56","author":"AK Perl","year":"1999","unstructured":"Perl, A. 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