VEGFA and myeloid sarcoma: Recent work has shown that IL-1β induces the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) and its gene target, vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), in human astrocytes, which in turn induces the breakdown of BBB and exacerbates the CNS degeneration, such as in MS (Argaw et al., 2006).