Protein / target

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1

FLT1P17948Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
18
Approved medicines
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity

Primary system

Cardiovascular system

Strongest disease association

coronary artery disorder

Genetic evidence · score 0.93

Therapeutic maturity

Clinically validated target

18 approved medicines against this target

Druggability

Small molecule

Open Targets tractability · Approved Drug

Clinical development

18 approved · 29 in clinical development

30 linked trials

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function

Tyrosine-protein kinase that acts as a cell-surface receptor for VEGFA, VEGFB and PGF, and plays an essential role in the development of embryonic vasculature, the regulation of angiogenesis, cell survival, cell migration, macrophage function, chemotaxis, and cancer cell invasion. Acts as a positive regulator of postnatal retinal hyaloid vessel regression (By similarity). May play an essential role as a negative regulator of embryonic angiogenesis by inhibiting excessive proliferation of endothelial cells. Can promote endothelial cell proliferation, survival and angiogenesis in adulthood. Its function in promoting cell proliferation seems to be cell-type specific. Promotes PGF-mediated proliferation of endothelial cells, proliferation of some types of cancer cells, but does not promote proliferation of normal fibroblasts (in vitro). Has very high affinity for VEGFA and relatively low protein kinase activity; may function as a negative regulator of VEGFA signaling by limiting the amount of free VEGFA and preventing its binding to KDR. Modulates KDR signaling by forming heterodimers with KDR. Ligand binding leads to the activation of several signaling cascades. Activation of PLCG leads to the production of the cellular signaling molecules diacylglycerol and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and the activation of protein kinase C. Mediates phosphorylation of PIK3R1, the regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, leading to activation of phosphatidylinositol kinase and the downstream signaling pathway. Mediates activation of MAPK1/ERK2, MAPK3/ERK1 and the MAP kinase signaling pathway, as well as of the AKT1 signaling pathway. Phosphorylates SRC and YES1, and may also phosphorylate CBL. Promotes phosphorylation of AKT1 at 'Ser-473'. Promotes phosphorylation of PTK2/FAK1 (PubMed:16685275)

Subcellular location

Cell membraneEndosomeSecretedCytoplasm
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (38)

Domains & features

Ig-like C2-type 1Ig-like C2-type 2Ig-like C2-type 3Ig-like C2-type 4Ig-like C2-type 5Ig-like C2-type 6Ig-like C2-type 7Protein kinase

Gene Ontology

  • Cendosome
  • Cextracellular space
  • Cfocal adhesion
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Creceptor complex
  • FATP binding
  • Fgrowth factor binding
  • Fplacental growth factor receptor activity
  • Ftransmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity
  • Fvascular endothelial growth factor receptor activity
  • Pblood vessel morphogenesis
  • Pcell differentiation

1338 aa · 151 kDa · 8 isoforms

Biological roles

Reactome v97

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Kinase signallingUniProt · GO
View supporting evidence

Kinase signalling

  • ·Tyrosine-protein kinase that acts as a cell-surface receptor for VEGFA, VEGFB and PGF, a…
  • ·transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity
  • ·peptidyl-tyrosine phosphorylation
  • ·positive regulation of MAP kinase activity
View underlying pathways (2)

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Interaction neighbourhood

STRING v12.0

Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.

VEGFCVEGFBPGFVEGFDKDRNRP1FGF2PDGFCANGPT1ANGPT2FLT1

10 strongest partners — larger node and heavier line mean higher confidence

Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.

Drugs targeting this protein

3

Whether each drug engages this protein directly or through a complex, and how many other targets are recorded for it. Direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

sunitinib
ApprovedInhibitor

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 inhibitor

Appears in clinical studies involving gastrointestinal stromal tumor, renal cell carcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, neuroendocrine neoplasm

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 9 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

axitinib
ApprovedInhibitor

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor

Appears in clinical studies involving renal cell carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, neoplasm, pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Acts on a complex — shared with FLT4, KDR · 1 of 3 recorded protein targets — narrow recorded profile

regorafenib
ApprovedInhibitor

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor

Appears in clinical studies involving colorectal cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, colorectal neoplasm, neoplasm

Acts on a complex — shared with FLT4, KDR · 1 of 18 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

ChEMBL mechanism, action type and target identity. Open Targets clinical status and indications.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically — disease associations, drugs in development, tractability and safety, from Open Targets.

Strongest genetic associations

Human genetic evidence — the most direct causal link between this target and a disease.

coronary artery disorder0.93

Genetic · overall 0.57

Highest-confidence therapeutic associations

Diseases where a drug acting on this target has already reached clinical development.

renal cell carcinoma0.99

Clinical · overall 0.61

hepatocellular carcinoma0.98

Clinical · overall 0.61

colorectal cancer0.97

Clinical · overall 0.60

idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis0.96

Clinical · overall 0.59

gastrointestinal stromal tumor0.96

Clinical · overall 0.59

Highest overall evidence

Remaining associations by Open Targets' aggregated evidence score.

neoplasm0.61

Literature

interstitial lung disease0.56

Clinical

non-small cell lung carcinoma0.56

Clinical

medullary thyroid gland carcinoma0.55

Clinical

Show all associations
renal cell carcinoma0.61
neoplasm0.61
hepatocellular carcinoma0.61
colorectal cancer0.60
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis0.59
gastrointestinal stromal tumor0.59
coronary artery disorder0.57
interstitial lung disease0.56
non-small cell lung carcinoma0.56
medullary thyroid gland carcinoma0.55

Open Targets ranks 1,212 associations for this target and we store the top 10 by aggregated score. The long tail is largely literature co-mention and RNA-expression evidence, not evidence that this target drives those diseases.

Known drugs · 48 total

PAZOPANIB HYDROCHLORIDEApproval

soft tissue sarcoma · renal cell carcinoma · sarcoma

LUCITANIBPhase 3

small cell lung carcinoma · breast cancer · lung cancer

4SC-203Phase 1
IBCASERTIBPhase 3

small cell lung carcinoma · cancer · ovarian cancer

TELBERMINPhase 2

diabetic foot · lateral sclerosis · amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

PAZOPANIBApproval

renal cell carcinoma · neoplasm · renal cell carcinoma

BRIVANIB ALANINATEPhase 3

hepatocellular carcinoma · colorectal carcinoma · lung cancer

TIVOZANIBApproval

renal cell carcinoma · neoplasm · renal cell adenocarcinoma

LINIFANIBPhase 3

hepatocellular carcinoma · renal cell carcinoma · non-small cell lung carcinoma

GLESATINIBPhase 2

non-small cell lung carcinoma · non-small cell lung carcinoma · cancer

Tractability

SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · Druggable FamilyAB · Advanced ClinicalAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt loc med confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMAB · Human Protein Atlas locPR · LiteraturePR · UniProt Ubiquitination

Safety liabilities

brain natriuretic peptide increaseIncreased, Developmental Defectshyponatraemiaimpaired healingheart diseaseHaemorrhageregulation of catalytic activityhypertension

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein.

Show remaining trials (24)

COMPLETED · via sunitinib · NCT00357318

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

Forefront confidence

Synthesis

Our own weighting of the evidence behind each disease association. Human genetics and clinical evidence count for most; literature co-mention counts for little, because two entities sharing an abstract is not evidence that one drives the other.

coronary artery disorderWell supported
0.94
agreement 0.801.00
Genetic97%Literature3%

Open Targets aggregate 0.57 · 2 independent evidence families

renal cell carcinomaWell supported
0.76
agreement 0.600.91
Clinical93%Literature7%

Open Targets aggregate 0.61 · 2 independent evidence families

neoplasmWell supported
0.76
agreement 0.600.91
Clinical83%Literature17%

Open Targets aggregate 0.61 · 2 independent evidence families

hepatocellular carcinomaWell supported
0.76
agreement 0.600.91
Clinical89%Literature11%

Open Targets aggregate 0.61 · 2 independent evidence families

colorectal cancerModerately supported
0.73
agreement 0.580.89
Clinical95%Literature5%

Open Targets aggregate 0.60 · 2 independent evidence families

This ranking differs from Open Targets' own: re-weighting moves genetically-evidenced diseases above more heavily co-mentioned ones. The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the underlying per-type scores are shown above so the calculation can be checked.

What's happening now

34

Recent activity around this target, drawn from one canonical event stream. Every item is reached through 3 drugs that target this protein, so each event is news about that drug rather than about the protein directly.

  1. New publication2026-01-28
    Fecal microbiota transplantation plus pembrolizumab and axitinib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: the randomized phase 2 TACITO trial.

    Nature medicine · 2026 · 8 citations · Europe PMC · via axitinib

  2. New publication2025-01-06
    Efficacy of pembrolizumab in microsatellite-stable, tumor mutational burden-high metastatic colorectal cancer: genomic signatures and clinical outcomes.

    ESMO open · 2025 · 10 citations · Europe PMC · via regorafenib

  3. Regulatory approval2024-09-19

    Approval: Axitinib Accord (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via axitinib

  4. New publication2024-06-04
    Lenvatinib Plus Pembrolizumab Versus Standard of Care for Previously Treated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Final Analysis of the Randomized, Open-Label, Phase III LEAP-017 Study.

    Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024 · 69 citations · Europe PMC · via regorafenib

  5. New publication2024-05-03
    Machine-learning and mechanistic modeling of metastatic breast cancer after neoadjuvant treatment.

    PLoS computational biology · 2024 · 10 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  6. New publication2024-03-15
    The more the merrier? Evidence and efficacy of immune checkpoint- and tyrosine kinase inhibitor combinations in advanced solid cancers.

    Cancer treatment reviews · 2024 · 17 citations · Europe PMC · via axitinib

  7. New publication2024-01-05
    Genomic profiling in GIST: Implications in clinical outcome and future challenges.

    Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) · 2024 · 20 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  8. New publication2021-03-01
    Nivolumab plus Cabozantinib versus Sunitinib for Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma.

    The New England journal of medicine · 2021 · 1,297 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  9. Regulatory approval2021-02-11

    Approval: Sunitinib Accord (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via sunitinib

  10. New publication2020-08-11
    Targeted therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

    Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2020 · 565 citations · Europe PMC · via regorafenib

  11. New publication2020-06-21
    Liver transarterial chemoembolization and sunitinib for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: Results of the PRODIGE 16 study.

    Clinics and research in hepatology and gastroenterology · 2021 · 15 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  12. New publication2020-04-25
    Updated efficacy results from the JAVELIN Renal 101 trial: first-line avelumab plus axitinib versus sunitinib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

    Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology · 2020 · 319 citations · Europe PMC · via axitinib

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.