CRC 1009 - A02: Mechanisms of leukocyte penetration of vascular cell basement membranes

Basic data for this project

Description

We investigate how the endothelial basement membrane (BM) acts as a barrier to leukocyte extravasation, focusing on the laminin isoforms (laminin 411 and laminin 511). Our studies highlight the endothelial BM as a hitherto underestimated niche for modulation of phenotypes of immune cells en route into inflamed tissues, and demonstrate that the effects of BM laminins differ depending on immune cell type. Different molecular mechanisms have been described and a laminin reporter mouse has been generated. Future experiments will permit distinction between mechanical and molecular information imparted by the endothelial BM on extravasating leukocytes of different types.