We are develop methods to identify tip-cells versus stalk cells during lymphangiogenic sprouting, and we are developing the procedure for their isolation and gene profiling. The cell junctional and matrix proteins and proteases as well as integrins that differ between the LECs and BECs are being functionally characterized at the cellular level, to define junctional proteins and their spatial organization. RNAi experiments are used to define the roles of selected proteins in the control of permeability to solutes and cells. The role of Ang/Tie-2 and ephrin/Eph systems during BEC and LEC interactions is being analysed in vitro and in vivo.

 

 

Participating consortium partners:

 

 

® Dr. Kari Alitalo, University of Helsinki, Finland

® Dr. Hellmut Augustin, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

® Dr. Christer Betsholtz, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

® Dr. Lena Claesson-Welsh, Uppsala University, Sweden

® Dr. Elisabetta Dejana, IFOM Fondazione Istituto FIRC di Oncologia Moleculare, Milan, Italy

® Dr. Anne Eichmann, Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, Paris, France

® Dr. Dontscho Kerjaschki, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

® Dr. Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, University of Kuopio, Finland