Pericyte regulation of endothelial growth dynamics and angiogenic switch mechanics

Department of Biomedical Engineering Seminar Series

'Pericyte regulation of endothelial growth dynamics and angiogenic switch mechanics'

Ira M. Herman, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Program in Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology
Center for Innovations in Wound Healing Research
Tufts University School of Medicine

Abstract: Microvascular morphogenesis, stability and the regulation of capillary tonus are, all, likely to be regulated by pericytes and their interactions with endothelial cells. And, while the RhoA/Rho kinase (ROCK) pathway has been implicated in modulating pericyte contractility, in part via regulation of the myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP), the detailed mechanisms linking Rho GTPase activity with actomyosin-based contraction and the isoactin-based cytoskeleton remain equivocal. This seminar presentation will present a historic perspective of the field while focusing on recent biochemical, molecular, genetic and cell biologic evidence, which indicate that pericyte control of endothelial growth dynamics and angiogenic activation are both chemically and mechanically controlled. Using these combined approaches, our findings have now shed new light on how pericyte chemo-mechanics might control the "angiogenic switch" and, possibly, pathological angiogenic induction.

When: Thursday, February 11th, 2016
Where: 10 AMISTAD Room 112
Time: 4PM