Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the most potent angiogenic peptide, protects the neurons against experimental ischemia. However, its neuroprotective effect on human brain is unknown. The present study attempted to determine whether VEGF can protect human cerebral neurons in vitro. A1 human hybrid clonal neurons (human cerebral neuron + neuroblastoma cell) were exposed to hypoxia with glucose deprivation. Pretreatment with VEGF reduced the A1 cell death, and VEGFR-2/Flk-1 and VEGF increased with a neuroprotective effect. However, the human neuroblastoma or neuroglioma cells failed to show these findings. Our results suggest that VEGF can protect human cerebral neurons from cell death after an ischemic insult in vitro, which is correlated to both increased expression of VEGFR-2/Flk-1 and VEGF within the cells.