Objective Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, is vital for tumour malignancy. Attempts to inhibit it by blocking VEGF has had limited success in the clinic with many patients innately resistant or acquiring resistance over time. Therefore, novel anti-angiogenic therapeutic strategies are required to improve overall efficacy and reduce resistance.Novel work in the Carmeliet lab has highlighted the importance of the metabolic pathway in regulating the switch from a quiescent endothelial cell to a proliferative one. Little is known about how this angiogenic switch is regulated by metabolism and which metabolic pathways are even involved. One such pathway, the hexoasmine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) generates UDP-GlcNAc, necessary for post-translational modification of proteins via glycosylation. N-linked glycosylation can regulate growth factor receptor exposure on the surface and signaling, while O-linked glycosylation can rapidly alter the function and activity of nuclear and cytosolic proteins, alike phosphorylation.Despite the important roles these modifications have, minimal research has been done into the role of glycosylation in angiogenesis. The proposal of this project is to investigate whether the HBP regulates angiogenesis via a specific “glycosylation switch”. In particular, using multi-disciplinary gene-discovery, pharmacological and genetic approaches in various animal models (zebrafish; mouse), I propose to investigate whether changes in nutrient supply regulate EC responses (quiescence versus proliferation) through selective HBP-mediated glycosylation of Flk1 or Notch and p53, and to explore the role and relevance of the HBP and key glycosylation pathways in EC quiescence / proliferation in vitro and (pathological) angiogenesis in vivo. The combination of genetic and translational studies might also open novel avenues to develop novel anti-angiogenic therapeutic strategies. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF - Marie-Curie Action: "Intra-European fellowships for career development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator VIB VZW EU contribution € 177 000,00 Address SUZANNE TASSIERSTRAAT 1 9052 ZWIJNAARDE - GENT Belgium See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen Arr. Gent Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Rik Audenaert (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
