Angiogenic Signaling Lab:
The lab uses a multifaceted approach to study the development of vascular and lymphatic vessels in disease and regenerative medicine. These include: signal transduction research; generation of transgenic and knockout mice; proteomics; and gene expression analyses using genomic technologies.
Dr. Dumont and his graduate students are all members of the Department of Medical Biophysics. Please click here to view the Research team.
Dr. Dumont is Director of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, which is comprised of over 150 research and support personnel, including 18 Principle Investigators (PIs) each directing their independent research programs. Dr. Dumont is also the Head of the Center for Proteomic Studies. Dr. Dumont is the 2003 recipient of the William E. Rawls Prize (sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society), which is given to a young investigator whose work has led to important advances in cancer control within the past decade. This award recognized Dr. Dumont for the identification and characterization of several angiogenic receptors including, Tek/Tie2, Tie1, flk1/VEGFR2, Endoglin and flt4/VEGFR3.Endothelial Cell Growth and Signaling in the Mouse: Overview
The receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family of cell surface proteins is known to play key roles in cell-cell communication in multi-cellular metazoan organisms. Genetic and biochemical studies on this large family of proteins have shown that different RTKs are responsible for transducing important developmental, proliferative, cell survival and migratory signals from the outside to the inside of the cell. The development and proper functioning of cell systems as diverse as the compound eye in the fly, the vulva in the nematode and hematopoiesis and endothelial growth in the mouse all depend on intact signalling pathways that are controlled by different members of the RTK family.
Dr. Dumont's lab is investigating the signal transduction pathways of different RTKs during vascular development in the mouse and during tumour formation. Vascular endothelial cells constitute an unusually quiescent epithelial cell population. The turnover rate of both large and small vessel endothelium is very low. The mechanisms that underlie this growth control are not well understood, and the factors which initiate and control subsequent proliferation are unknown. It is clear, however, that vascular growth occurs under nonpathological conditions (e.g. wound healing, corpus luteum formation, and development) and that this growth is somehow terminated at the correct time. In contrast, uncontrolled vessel growth (including tumour vascularization, diabetic retinopathy, and arthritis) are associated with many different diseased states. The determinants which control these processes remain unknown; however the study of peptide growth factors, their receptors and their downstream substrates will provide both a biochemical and genetic entry point into the elucidation of the underlying controls of these processes.
Dr. Dumont's group uses gene-targeting in embryonic stem cells, transgenic mice, proteomics and receptor biochemistry to attempt to address the importance of these different RTKs and their related signal transduction pathways during vascular growth in development and in disease.
