Research groups

Research

Electron micrograph of developing luminal space between two endothelial cells in culture

Molecular mechanisms controlling morphogenesis of endothelial cell tubes during angiogenesis

Elaborate networks of tubes carry essential nutrients, waste and other materials throughout all metazoan organisms. I am interested in the formation of the tubes that comprise the vascular system, the blood vessels, which are lined by a specialised layer of epithelial cells called the endothelium.

My research aims to characterise the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive tube formation during angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels from the existing vasculature. To this end, I am investigating the distinct roles of SNARE proteins, phosphoinositides and intercellular junction proteins in membrane trafficking events leading to luminal membrane differentiation and endothelial cell tube formation in vitro. Key control factors identified in the culture system are tested for physiological relevance using an in vivo angiogenesis assay.

The long-term goal of the work is to provide a description of the cellular mechanics underlying angiogenesis in order to better understand cardiovascular disease and pathological angiogenesis in cancer.

Recent publications

Gampel A, Moss L, Jones MC, Brunton V, Norman JC, Mellor H (2006) VEGF regulates the mobilisation of VEGFR-2/KDR from an intracellular endothelial storage compartment. Blood 108(8):2624-31.

Gampel A, Mellor H. (2002) Small interfering RNAs as a tool to assign Rho GTPase exchange-factor function in vivo. Biochem. J. 366(2):393-398.

Sudarsan V, Pasalodos-Sanchez S, Wan S, Gampel A, Skaer H. (2002) A genetic hierarchy establishes mitogenic signalling and mitotic competence in the renal tubules of Drosophila. Development 129(4):935-944.

Gampel A, Parker PJ, Mellor H. (1999) Regulation of epidermal growth factor receptor traffic by the small GTPase RhoB. Curr. Biol. 9(17):955-958.

Martin-Blanco E, Gampel A, Ring J, Virdee K, Kirov N, Tolkovsky AM, Martinez Arias A. (1998) puckered encodes a phosphatase that mediates a feedback loop regulating JNK activity during dorsal closure in Drosophila. Genes Dev. 12(4):557-570.