O VEGF wasfoi firstidentificado identifiedinicialmente inen guinea pigscobaias, hamstershámsters, ande miceratos bypor Senger ''et al.'' inen 1983.<ref name="Senger1" /> ItFoi waspurificado purifiede andclonado cloned bypor Ferrara ande Henzel inen 1989.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ferrara|first1=N|last2=Henzel|first2=WJ|title=Pituitary follicular cells secrete a novel heparin-binding growth factor specific for vascular endothelial cells.|journal=Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications|date=15 June 1989|volume=161|issue=2|pages=851–8|pmid=2735925|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0006291X89926788|doi=10.1016/0006-291x(89)92678-8}}</ref> VEGF alternative splicing was discovered by Tischer ''et al.'' in 1991.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tischer|first1=E|last2=Mitchell|first2=R|last3=Hartman|first3=T|last4=Silva|first4=M|last5=Gospodarowicz|first5=D|last6=Fiddes|first6=JC|last7=Abraham|first7=JA|title=The human gene for vascular endothelial growth factor. Multiple protein forms are encoded through alternative exon splicing.|journal=The Journal of Biological Chemistry|date=25 June 1991|volume=266|issue=18|pages=11947–54|pmid=1711045|url=http://www.jbc.org/content/266/18/11947.long}}</ref> BetweenEntre 1996 ande 1997, Christinger ande De Vos obtainedobtiveron thea crystalestrutura structurecristalina ofdo VEGF, firstprimeiro ata unha resolución de 2.,5 Å resolutione anddespois later ata 1.,9 Å.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Christinger|first1=Hans W.|last2=Muller|first2=Yves A.|last3=Berleau|first3=Lea T.|last4=Keyt|first4=Bruce A.|last5=Cunningham|first5=Brian C.|last6=Ferrara|first6=Napoleone|last7=de Vos|first7=Abraham M.|title=Crystallization of the receptor binding domain of vascular endothelial growth factor|journal=Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetics|date=November 1996|volume=26|issue=3|pages=353–357|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1097-0134(199611)26:3<353::AID-PROT9>3.0.CO;2-E|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-0134%28199611%2926:3%3C353::AID-PROT9%3E3.0.CO;2-E/abstract}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Muller|first1=YA|last2=Li|first2=B|last3=Christinger|first3=HW|last4=Wells|first4=JA|last5=Cunningham|first5=BC|last6=de Vos|first6=AM|title=Vascular endothelial growth factor: crystal structure and functional mapping of the kinase domain receptor binding site.|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date=8 July 1997|volume=94|issue=14|pages=7192–7|pmid=9207067|url=http://www.pnas.org/content/94/14/7192.abstract|doi=10.1073/pnas.94.14.7192}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Muller|first1=YA|last2=Christinger|first2=HW|last3=Keyt|first3=BA|last4=de Vos|first4=AM|title=The crystal structure of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) refined to 1.93 A resolution: multiple copy flexibility and receptor binding.|journal=Structure (London, England: 1993)|date=15 October 1997|volume=5|issue=10|pages=1325–38|pmid=9351807|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969212697002840|doi=10.1016/s0969-2126(97)00284-0}}</ref>
En 1992 Ferrara et al. demostraron que a [[FLT1|Fmstirosina quinase-like1 tyrosinede kinase-1tipo Fms]] (flt-1) wasera showno toreceptor be ado VEGF receptor by Ferrara ''et al.'' in 1992.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=de Vries|first1=C|last2=Escobedo|first2=JA|last3=Ueno|first3=H|last4=Houck|first4=K|last5=Ferrara|first5=N|last6=Williams|first6=LT|title=The fms-like tyrosine kinase, a receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor.|journal=Science|date=21 February 1992|volume=255|issue=5047|pages=989–91|pmid=1312256|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/content/255/5047/989.long|doi=10.1126/science.1312256}}</ref> TheEn [[kinase1992 insertTerman domainet receptor]]al. (KDR)demostraron wasque showno to[[receptor bede adominio VEGFde receptorinserción byde Termanquinase]] ''et(KDR) al.''era inun 1992receptor asde wellVEGF.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Terman|first1=BI|last2=Dougher-Vermazen|first2=M|last3=Carrion|first3=ME|last4=Dimitrov|first4=D|last5=Armellino|first5=DC|last6=Gospodarowicz|first6=D|last7=Böhlen|first7=P|title=Identification of the KDR tyrosine kinase as a receptor for vascular endothelial cell growth factor.|journal=Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications|date=30 September 1992|volume=187|issue=3|pages=1579–86|pmid=1417831|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0006291X92904832|doi=10.1016/0006-291x(92)90483-2}}</ref> InEn 1998, demostrouse que a [[neuropilinneuropilina 1]] ande a [[neuropilinneuropilina 2]] wereactuaban showncomo toreceptores act asde VEGF receptors.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Soker|first1=S|last2=Takashima|first2=S|last3=Miao|first3=HQ|last4=Neufeld|first4=G|last5=Klagsbrun|first5=M|title=Neuropilin-1 is expressed by endothelial and tumor cells as an isoform-specific receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor.|journal=Cell|date=20 March 1998|volume=92|issue=6|pages=735–45|pmid=9529250|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867400814026|doi=10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81402-6}}</ref>
