Project description
Lessons from the traffic cop directing cell migration and patterned blood vessel formation
Just as no man is an island, neither is a single cell. The body's cells and tissues work in concert to accomplish tasks critical to physiological functioning. Understanding the signalling networks underlying dynamic changes in the body is an important step in untangling related disease processes. Blood flow itself drives vascular patterning, somehow influencing the blueprint for laying down the complex network of blood vessels that sustains life. A thin layer of cells lining the vessels respond to flow but how that signal is transduced into patterning is an open question. ADAPT2FLOW is exploiting a mouse model to determine effects of blood flow on cell migration and their regulators. Insight could have important impact on mitigating vascular disease.
Objective
The formation of a functional patterned (adaptation) vascular network is essential for development, tissue growth, and organ physiology. Several human vascular disorders arise from the mis-patterning (maladaptation) of blood vessels, such as arteriovenous malformations, aneurysms, and diabetic retinopathy. Blood flow is recognized as the main inducer for vascular patterning, yet very little is known about the molecular mechanisms that vascular patterning.
C. Franco and others recently highlighted that endothelial cells polarize and migrate against the blood flow direction. Yet, how this behavior contributes to the overall process of vascular patterning is completely unknown. This project aims to study the dynamics of endothelial cells in vascular patterning during development, homeostasis, and disease. Taking advantage of a unique new transgenic mouse line reporting endothelial cell polarity in vivo, I will investigate endothelial cell behavior in vivo, including endothelial cell polarity, collective and individual migration and cell rearrangements, using 2-photon microscopy. I will extend this analysis to understand the involvement of endothelial flow-dependent polarity in formation and development of arteriovenous malformations. Finally, I will perform an in vivo functional screen to identify novel regulators of endothelial flow-dependent polarity, using a combination of automated image analysis and hemodynamics modelling.
This integrative approach, based on high-resolution imaging and unique experimental models, will provide a unifying model defining the cellular and molecular principles involved in adaptive and maladaptive endothelial cell dynamics during blood flow-driven vascular patterning. Given the physiological relevance of vascular patterning in health and disease, this research plan will set the basis for the development of novel clinical therapies targeting vascular disorders.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine angiology vascular diseases
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy
- natural sciences biological sciences cell biology cell polarity
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine ophthalmology retinopathy
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1649 028 Lisboa
Portugal
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.