Molecular control of lymphatic function in development and disease
Event details
| Date | 16.03.2010 |
| Hour | 16:30 |
| Speaker | Michael Detmar |
| Location |
SV 1717a
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Tumor metastasis to sentinel lymph nodes represents the first step of tumor dissemination in most human cancers and serves as a major prognostic indicator for disease progression. However, little is known about the mechanisms how tumor cells gain entry into the lymphatic system. We found that tumors can actively induce the formation of lymphatic vessels and that tumor lymphangiogenesis was correlated with lymph node metastasis in experimental cancer models and predicted sentinel lymph node metastasis in human cutaneous malignant melanomas.
We also found that metastastic tumor cells can induce lymphangiogenesis within lymph nodes, leading to the new concept of lymph node lymphangiogenesis. In a skin carcinogenesis model in VEGF-C transgenic mice, tumor-induced sentinel lymph node lymphangiogenesis promoted cancer metastasis to distant lymph nodes and beyond. Surprisingly, tumor cells can induce lymph node lymphangiogenesis already before they metastasize. Our recent results indicate that in vivo imaging of lymph node lymphangiogenesis might serve as the most sensitive detection method for early cancer metastasis. Lymphatic vessel activation is also observed in chronic inflammatory diseases, and we have evidence that blood and lymphatic vessels play distinct roles in inflammation and that they might serve as novel therapeutic targets in inflammation. Recent studies in cultured and in ex vivo isolated lymphatic and blood vascular endothelial cells, as well as in Xenopus and zebrafish models, have enabled us to identify a number of novel pathways involved in lymphatic development and function.
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Practical information
- General public
- Free