The role of Cadherin based vascular endothelial intercellular junction in angiogenesis and vascular development.
p120 catenin is an armadillo family protein that binds to the juxtamembrane domain of VE-cadherin, an adhesion molecule critical to vascular barrier function and angiogenesis. Both VE-cadherin and p120 have been directly implicated in a variety of diseases including cancer and inflammatory conditions. Based on our previous data demonstrating that p120 functions as an important regulator of VE-cadherin levels, we are currently focusing on studying the contribution of this p120 regulatory system to vascular biology utilizing an endothelial p120 knock out mouse model system. Our research goal is to understand the role of p120 in the formation and maintenance of vascular barrier function in vivo and in the development of a mature vascular network. Our long term goal is to determine the molecular mechanisms regulating VE-cadherin based cell-cell adhesion during vascular development and angiogenesis.
Name: Kanyan Xiao,
