The tumor pericyte and its role in tumor angiogenesis

周细胞是稳定健康机体毛细血管的重要支持细胞。在肿瘤中，周细胞和内皮细胞之间的相互作用是松散的，这被认为增加了肿瘤内血管的渗漏和脆弱性。周细胞对肿瘤血管的正常化非常有兴趣，这种方法可能会增强循环化疗药物的效果，或者，作为替代，防止抗血管生成治疗的血管不稳定。在此，我们计划研究肿瘤动物模型中周细胞的动态行为、命运和表达谱。小鼠的遗传方法将用于这些研究以及肿瘤血管中Notch信号的功能表征。

Pericytes are important support cells that stabilize capillaries in the healthy organism. Interactions between pericytes and the endothelium are loose in tumors, which is thought to enhance the leakiness and fragility of intratumor blood vessels. Pericytes are of great interest for the normalization of tumor vessels, an approach that might enhance the effect of circulating chemotherapeutics, or, alternatively, the destabilization of vessels that are protected against anti-angiogenic treatment. Here, we plan to investigate the dynamic behavior, fate and expression profile of pericytes in animal models of cancer. Genetic approaches in mice will be used for these studies as well as the functional characterization of Notch signaling in the tumor vasculature.