Vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) is a potent mitogen for endothelial cells and is able to induce vascular hyper permeability. It is upregulated during wound healing and has been demonstrated to be overexpressed in a large number of malignant tumors where it is thought to contribute to the formation of tumor vessels and thereby influencing tumor growth and metastasis. When we studied tissue distribution of this factor in organs of adults we found that VEGF mRNA and protein is constitutively expressed in normal salivary gland tissue. Strong VEGF expression as assessed by immunohistochemistry and in-situ-hybridization was detectable mainly in acinar cells. In inflammatory salivary gland lesions, VEGF expression was also found upregulated in ductal elements. In analogy to what we observed in regular acinar cells, acinic cell carcinomas stained strongly for VEGF protein whereas only little was detectable in most other salivary gland tumors. Using an ELISA we found up to 1 ng of VEGF regularly present in saliva of healthy indivi-duals. The strong constitutive expression of VEGF in salivary glands and the secretion of VEGF in saliva suggest an important role for this cytokine in the maintenance of the homeostasis of mucous membranes. Rapid induction of neoangiogenesis by salivary VEGF may help to accelerate wound healing within the oral cavity.