Imperial College London

DrGraemeBirdsey

Faculty of MedicineNational Heart & Lung Institute

Senior Lecturer in Vascular Science
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 8633g.birdsey Website

 
 
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Location

 

535ICTEM buildingHammersmith Campus

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Summary

 

Overview

My work focuses on the role of the Ets-related gene ERG in regulating endothelial gene expression and angiogenesis.

Sprouting Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis is the growth of new blood vessels and is an important natural process that occurs during wound healing and development. However, abnormal blood vessel growth underlies many diseases, including cancer, age-related blindness, diabetic ulcers, stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Angiogenesis involves the sprouting of endothelial cells from existing blood vessels in a tightly regulated process that requires the integration of signals from growth factors, adhesion molecules and other cellular pathways.

Specialised endothelial tip cells, which are highly motile and extend numerous filopodia, lead the outgrowth of the vessel sprout towards gradients of VEGF.

 

Sprouting angiogenesis in the developing mouse retina at postnatal day 6.

Sprouting angiogenesis in the developing mouse retina at postnatal day 6.

 

Transcriptional Regulation of Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis depends on the dynamic regulation of endothelial cell gene expression. There is a complex network of transcriptional regulators that have a fundamental role in regulating the precise temporal and spatial co-ordination of the expression of multiple genes during angiogenesis.

My interest in angiogenesis focuses on the role of the Ets-related gene ERG (a member of the ETS family of transcription factors). Erg is one of the most highly expressed ETS transcription factors in endothelial cells and drives the expression of genes that define the endothelial lineage, including many that are involved in angiogenesis.

We have shown that Erg is required for endothelial monolayer stability, endothelial cell survival and angiogenesis - partly through driving expression of the adhesion molecule VE-cadherin. Birdsey et al (2008) Blood 111(7): 3498-506

 

To understand in more detail the molecular mechanisms regulating angiogenesis, we make use of a number of techniques including:


Erg and VE-cadherin staining in HUVEC.

Erg and VE-cadherin staining in HUVEC.


  • transcriptional biochemistry
  • microarray analysis
  • computational biology
  • confocal immunofluorescence microscopy
  • time-lapse microscopy
  • in vitro and in vivo models of angiogenesis (e.g postnatal retinal sprouting, co-culture and Matrigel tube formation assays).

Guest Lectures

Transcriptional and epigenetic control of endothelial homeostasis and lineage identity, St George's, University of London, St George's, University of LondonCranmer TerraceLondon SW17 0RE, 2019

Transcriptional and epigenetic control of endothelial homeostasis and lineage identity, King’s College London, King’s College London School of Cardiovascular Medicine & SciencesBHF Centre of Research ExcellenceJames Black Centre125, Coldharbour LaneLondon SE5 9NUUnited Kingdom, 2019

Transcriptional and epigenetic control of endothelial homeostasis​, European Society for Microcirculation (ESM) and the European Vascular Biology Organization (EVBO) Summer School, Technische Universitat DresdenDresdenGermany, 2018

The ETS factor ERG controls an endothelial-specific transcriptional regulatory program associated with super-enhancers​, NAVBO Vascular Biology 2017, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Monterey, California, USA, 2017

Transcriptional control of angiogenesis, European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2017, Barcelona, Spain, 2017

Regulation of vascular development and angiogenesis by the ETS transcription factor ERG, University of Wolverhampton, University of WolverhamptonWulfruna StreetWolverhamptonWV1 1LYUK, 2015

Regulation of vascular development and angiogenesis by the ETS transcription factor ERG, Joint Meeting of the European Society for Microcirculation (ESM) and the European Vascular Biology Organization (EVBO)., Pisa, Italy, 2015

The Transcription Factor Erg Regulates Angiogenesis and Endothelial Cell Migration, 4th International Meeting on Angiogenesis, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2011

26th Meeting London Vascular Biology Forum, Royal Veterinary College, London, 2010

Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Angiogenesis, University of Chester, UK, 2009

4th European Meeting on Vascular Biology and Medicine, University of Bristol, 2007