Our blood vessels provide all growing tissues with oxygen and nutrients. The growth of blood vessels (a process termed angiogenesis) is indispensable for the proper functioning of organs and the repair of tissues when they have become damaged. Also in tumors the vessels are not well formed which causes a decrease in delivery of oxygen and nutrients to these tumors. The larger a tumor grows, the more oxygen it requires. The tumor tries to remedy this situation by producing growth factors that stimulate the growth of new blood vessels. However, these new blood vessels have an abnormal shape, which impairs blood flow so that the cancer cells receive little oxygen. This shortage of oxygen forces cancer cells to escape the tumor and to metastasize to distant organs, which ultimately results in a malignant cancer. In addition, the abnormal shape of the blood vessels restricts the delivery and effectiveness of anti-cancer medicines. 

Many studies have been performed on how blood vessels form, but still little is known about the molecular mechanisms that determine the shape and the behavior of the lining of a blood vessel, the so-called endothelial cells. It is important to find out how to improve these malformed vessels so that chemotherapeutics can be better delivered and that tumors don’t form metastases anymore. Therefore we are searching to find out what characterizes well-formed vessels and what makes them different from those vessels in tumors.  Massimiliano Mazzone and his colleagues, study (in endothelial cells) the role of a protein, PHD2, that serves as an oxygen sensor.

The researchers study this in different ways. During their visit the students will be introduced to some of them, like working with cell cultures, measuring tumors in mice and analyzing coupes under a microscope.