本研究は、臓器によって異なる血管パターニングの多様性がいかにして獲得されるかを解剖学・細胞生物学・生化学、in vivoイメージングなど多様な技術を統合して解き明かすべく遂行された。特に歯における血管ネットワーク構築の分子メカニズム、および血管が歯の硬化に与える影響を明らかにする(Matsubara et al., J Exp Med 2022)とともに、進行がんの血管に特異的に使われている血管内皮細胞間接着システムを明らかにし、がんの転移を効率的に抑える分子標的を同定した(Ando et al., J Clin Invest 2022)。
In vertebrates, the vascular network develops throughout the body to meet the demand of oxygen and nutrients in tissues, and to secrete organotypic paracrine molecules, known as angiocrine factors, driving cell differentiation and tissue morphogenesis. Recent advances in the imaging technique and single cell transcriptomics comprehensively uncovered the vascular cell heterogeneity ensuring the functional diversity of organotypic vasculature. In this study, we uncovered the cellular and molecular basis of cell-to-cell communication regulating angiogenesis in the skeletal system in particular teeth, the hardest tissue in our bodies (Matsubara et al., J Exp Med 2022). Moreover we identified an inter-endothelial junction molecule which could be a novel therapeutic target for cancer therapy (Ando et al., J Clin Invest 2022).
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