Unusual angiogenic factor plays a role in lizard pregnancy but is not unique to viviparity

Angiogenesis (blood vessel growth), a key process of mammalian pregnancy, facilitates gas exchange and nutrient transport between the mother and the embryo and is regulated by a suite of growth factors. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is crucial to this process in pregnant mammals and potentially pregnant squamates (lizards and snakes), as we investigate here. VEGF111 , an unusual and potent angiogenic splice variant of VEGF, increases its expression during pregnancy in the uterus of a viviparous lizard, in parallel with similar increases in uterine angiogenesis during gestation. However, we also find that VEGF111 is expressed in oviparous skinks, and is not ubiquitous among viviparous skinks. Thus, different mechanisms of uterine angiogenesis during pregnancy may evolve concurrent with viviparity in different lizard lineages.