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Vascular disease directly or indirectly accounts for approximately
70% of human deaths and is intimately linked with a number of conditions
such as stroke, myocardial infarction, peripheral artery disease,
hypertension, rheumathoid arthritis, and cancer as well as the new
epidemics of diabetes and obesity. Despite the high social and economical
impact of vascular disease, surprisingly little is known about the
molecular and cellular mechanisms that affect the cells of the vessel
wall during disease development.
Moreover, the functional analysis of the molecular mechanisms that
regulate blood vessel formation has in the past concentrated on
the characterization of pro- and anti-angiogenic molecules that
directly act on endothelial cells. This preoccupation with the function
of isolated endothelial cells implies that interactions between
endothelial cells and other vascular cells, such as pericytes and
smooth muscle cells as well as the role of vascular progenitor cells,
are not well understood.
The functional and phenotypic regulation of the cells of the vessel
wall is studied in various project groups with a different focus
on cellular mediators and effectors (A), cellular responses (B)
and cellular and systemic interactions (C).
Researchers from the following institutions are participating in
the SFB/TR23:
University Hospital Frankfurt/Main
University Hospital Heidelberg
Faculty for Clinical Medicine, Mannheim
DKFZ Heidelberg
University of Freiburg
Tumor Biology Center, Freiburg
© 2005 by Karl H. Plate and Julia Wenner
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