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Via Adamello, The IFOM-IEO campus, based in Milan, hosts the top two Italian cancer research institutions, IFOM (the FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology Foundation) and IEO (the European Institute of Oncology) with 550 researchers, as well as the European School of Molecular Medicine. The IFOM has very efficient technology platforms such as Affymetrix gene chip system, a ntibody production, sequencing, real-time PCR, in situ hybridization, proteomics, confocal and electron microscopy, mouse genetics etc. All necessary facilities for cell culture, radioactive materials manipulation, molecular biology, viral vector manipulation etc. are available. The research group of Elisabetta Dejana (ED) will be involved in four work packages. They will contribute towards understanding the physiology and maintenance and breakdown of the neurovascular unit. The group will study recruitment of inflammatory cells upo n ischemia –reperfusion injury after ischemic stroke and lead the work in on the role of angiogenesis and microvasc ular-nerve cell interactions in recovery after stroke. These goals fit well with the competences of the team. The ED team was among the first to characterize, at a molecular level, the architecture of endothelial cell to cell junctions. These structures play a crucial role in the maintenance of vascular integrity, in the control of vascular permeability and angiogenesis. ED has characterized novel adhesive proteins (VE-cadherin, JAM-A, VE-cadherin -2) at intercellular junctions in the endothelium. The team has developed several tools such as endothelial cells cultured from the genetically modified mice and reconstituted with the wild type proteins or mutant proteins lacking specific intracellular sequences, blocking monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, recombinant fragments, several in vitro assays of angiogenesis and permeability. A second junctional protein identified by ED is JAM-A (junctional adhesion molecule). Mice lacking JAM-A present reduced leukocyte infiltration in inflammatory areas. More recent work was directed to the study of circulating endothelial progenitors from mouse and man, of the mechanisms which induce their mobilization from the bone marrow and of their homing in ischemic areas. Lines of pericyte progenitors were also isolated and cultured. These cells will be of particular importance in vascular stabilization both in vitro but also in in vivo models. Project Leader
Project Staff Maria Grazia Lampugnanisenior researcher expert in cell biology, protein biochemistry and immuno-histochemical techniques. Contact
Monica Corada Fabrizio Orsenigo
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