
Kristian Pietras
Research team manager

Bone morphogenetic protein-9 inhibits lymphatic vessel formation via activin receptor-like kinase 1 during development and cancer progression
Author
Summary, in English
Lymphatic vessels (LVs) play critical roles in the maintenance of fluid homeostasis and in pathological conditions, including cancer metastasis. Although mutations in ALK1, a member of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptor family, have been linked to hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, a human vascular disease, the roles of activin receptor-like kinase 1(ALK-1) signals in LV formation largely remain to be elucidated. We show that ALK-1 signals inhibit LV formation, and LVs were enlarged in multiple organs in Alk1-depleted mice. These inhibitory effects of ALK-1 signaling were mediated by BMP-9, which decreased the number of cultured lymphatic endothelial cells. Bmp9-deficient mouse embryos consistently exhibited enlarged dermal LVs. BMP-9 also inhibited LV formation during inflammation and tumorigenesis. BMP-9 downregulated the expression of the transcription factor prospero-related homeobox 1, which is necessary to maintain lymphatic endothelial cell identity. Furthermore, silencing prospero-related homeobox 1 expression inhibited lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation. Our findings reveal a unique molecular basis for the physiological and pathological roles of BMP-9/ALK-1 signals in LV formation.
Department/s
- Department of Translational Medicine
- BioCARE: Biomarkers in Cancer Medicine improving Health Care, Education and Innovation
Publishing year
2013
Language
English
Pages
18940-18945
Publication/Series
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
110
Issue
47
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Topic
- Cancer and Oncology
Keywords
- lymphangiogenesis
- angiogenesis
- blood vascular endothelial cells
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1091-6490