SPP 1190:  The Tumour-Vessel Interface

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: from 2006 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 12836250

The growth of blood vessels in tumours is one of the most important, if not the most important tumour-host interaction associated with tumour progression and metastasis. A multitude of cells, molecules and mechanisms controls the complex interactions between the tumour and the vascular compartments to regulate tumour progression and metastasis. While angiogenesis research has become one of the most rapidly growing and most competitive fields of ongoing biomedical research, much remains to be discovered in the context of cancer and this will only be achieved through effective networking and integrating efforts in the vascular and tumour biology fields.
A significantly advanced understanding of the multitude and complexity of tumour-vessel interactions holds the promise of not only improving our understanding of tumour progression mechanisms, but also paving the way towards novel avenues to diagnose and therapeutically interfere with tumours. Towards these goals, advanced in vitro and in vivo experimental strategies need to concentrate on tumour cells, blood and lymphatic vessel wall cells, and other recruited and resident stromal cells as a dynamic multicompartment cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction and communication system. The intricate interplay between different molecular systems including angiogenic and anti-angiogenic cytokines and their receptors, regulators of the proteolytic balance, adhesion and associated molecules, chemokines and their receptors as well as signalling molecules acting in these cellular compartments awaits detailed molecular and mechanistic analysis. Tumour microenvironmental conditioning by hypoxia and the thrombogenic milieu needs to be studied and its effect on the different cell populations within the tumour must be explored.
Interactions between the tumour and the vessel compartment relating to vessel intravasation, systemic dissemination, distant lodging and secondary site growth of metastasising tumour cells are poorly understood and await molecular characterisation.
The groups funded by the Priority Programme primarily concentrate on the following subjects: tumour angiogenesis, lymphatic tumour angiogenesis, intratumoural vessel differentiation, hypoxia, chemokines, cell adhesion, cell migration, invasion, inflammation, coagulation, novel animal models, imaging, translational vascular-oncological research.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes

Projects

• Bidirectional Eph/ephrin signaling in the crosstalk at the tumor-vessel interface (Applicant Acker-Palmer, Amparo )
• Cellular and molecular mechanisms of tumor-induced lymphangiogenesis (Applicant Liersch, Rüdiger )
• Crosstalk between tumor cells and endothelial cells via the tetraspanin D6.1A (Applicant Zöller, Margot )
• EMT (epithelial mesenchymal transition) regulators and the crosstalk between the hypoxic and vascular tumor niche (Applicant Acker, Till )
• Functional and anatomical monitoring of tumor progression by non-invasive imaging devices in various tumor models (Applicant Alves, Frauke )
• Funds for Coordinating activities (Applicant Augustin, Hellmut G. )
• Interaction between the microglia and blood vessels in malignant brain tumors - significance for brain tumor angiogenesis, vascular modulation, and brain tumor growth (Applicant Vajkoczy, Peter )
• Lymphangiogenesis and cancer (Applicant Sleeman, Jonathan Paul )
• Mechanisms of early metastatic spread: Epigenetic plasticity and selection of advantageous genotypes (Applicant Klein, Christoph )
• Modulation of Tumor Angiogenesis by CEACAM1 in a Mouse Model for Mammary Carcinogenesis (WAP-T Mice) (Applicant Deppert, Wolfgang )
• Molecular analysis of tumor-vessel interactions during tumor progression (Applicant Augustin, Hellmut G. )
• Molecular mechanisms of activation of tyrosine kinase receptors in angiogenesis (Applicant Orian-Rousseau, Véronique )
• Targeting the pancreatic "tumor vessel interface": strategies based on engineered mesenchymal stem cell biology (Applicant Bruns, Christiane Josephine )
• The chemokine crosstalk at the 'tumor-vessel interface' (Applicant Homey, Bernhard )
• The Contribution of redox regulation in tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth: glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPx4) as a key regulator of 12/15-lipoxygenase activity (Applicant Beck, Heike )
• The influence of the extracellular RNA/RNase system on humoral and cellular reactions at the tumor-vessel interface (Applicant Preissner, Klaus T. )
• The role of chemokine/chemokine receptor systems in tumor progression of pancreatic ductal carcinoma (Applicant Sipos, Bence )
• The role of HIF prolyl hydroxylases in tumor progression and metastasis (Applicant Breier, Georg )
• The Role of Tumor-Vessel Interface in Multimodal Cancer Therapy (Applicant Abdollahi, Ph.D., Amir )
• The tumor pericyte and its role in tumor angiogenesis (Applicant Adams, Ralf H. )
• Vessel-guided collective cancer invasion in vivo: molecular mechanisms and fate (Applicant Friedl, Peter )
• Wachstumsfaktor-vermittelte Rekrutierung von Entzündungszellen ins Tumor-Stroma: Funktionelle Rolle in Angiogenese und Tumorprogression (Applicant Müller, Margareta M. )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Hellmut G. Augustin