Research Division of Vascular Biology

Research interests

Blood vessels are part of almost all tissues of the body. A fundamental question is how blood vessels are formed and how blood vessels of different parts of the body specializes and integrate in the function of the different tissues. Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels is a complex process that involves many genes and specific processes. A molecular delineation and understanding of these processes is a central theme in the research at the division.

The functional specialization of blood vessels in different parts of the body serves to optimize the function of the different tissues and thus the survival of the organism. Many common diseases have a vascular link. These include cardiovascular (including myocardial infarction, stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and kidney diseases. In these diseases the function of blood vessels and/or the communication between blood vessels and the surrounding tissues are often suboptimal or absent. We conduct research to better understand how parenchymal cells of the heart, kidney, skeletal muscle and brain communicate with the blood vessels to optimize blood flow and nutrient delivery and maintain and/or optimize tissue functions.

Research groups

Ulf Eriksson group
The group focuses on how vascular growth factor including VEGF-B, PDGF-C and PDGF-D signals to cells of blood vessels and control different blood vessel functions.

Lars Jakobsson group
The group focuses on signals controlling blood vessel formation and remodelling in development, cancer and vascular anomalies.

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