Excessive angiogenesis in patients with ocular diseases, including Diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the wet form of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) causes he majority of severe vision loss in the US. Excessive angiogenesis is currently treated by inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), with some therapeutic success, but some patients do not respond to anti-VEGF treatment, calling for additional means to block neovascularization. The VEGF co-receptor Neuropilin-1 (Nrp1) promotes retinal angiogenesis through VEGF dependent and independent effects on Semaphorin3A-mediated vessel permeability. Furthermore, we show that Nrp1 promotes angiogenesis through inhibition of angio- suppressive Tgf- signaling. We will test the hypothesis that blocking of Nrp1 signaling may improve efficacy of anti-VEGF treatment by simultaneously targeting vessel barrier function and angiogenic sprouting through effects on Semaphorin3A and Tgf- signaling. We propose to determine the efficacy of blocking Nrp1 signaling in preclinical models of ocular neovascular disease and establish the role of VEGF, Semaphorin3A and Tgf- pathways downstream of Nrp1. We will elucidate the molecular basis for functional antagonism between Nrp1 and Tgf- signaling, with the goal to determine strategies to block Nrp1 inhibition of this pathway in clinical settings and prevent vision loss in DR and AMD patients.

Public Health Relevance

Excessive blood vessel formation in ocular neovascular disease is currently treated with therapeutic success by inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), however, since a proportion of patients do not achieve vision improvement, developing treatments that improve response to anti-VEGF agents is likely to improve the lives of patients with ocular neovascular disease. Our preliminary data show that the VEGF co- receptor Neuropilin-1 (Nrp1) promotes retinal angiogenesis through both VEGF dependent and independent effects, prompting us to test the efficacy of selective Nrp1 blockade in preventing neovascular disorders in preclinical models of ocular neovascularization. Mechanistically, we will test the hypothesis that Nrp1 blockade inhibits ocular neovascularization by simultaneously inhibiting VEGF-induced angiogenesis, VEGF and Sema3A-induced permeability and by promoting angio-suppressive Tgf--Smad signaling.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01EY025979-02
Application #
9113007
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Shen, Grace L
Project Start
2015-08-01
Project End
2020-07-31
Budget Start
2016-08-01
Budget End
2017-07-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Yale University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
043207562
City
New Haven
State
CT
Country
United States
Zip Code
Zhang, Feng; Zarkada, Georgia; Han, Jinah et al. (2018) Lacteal junction zippering protects against diet-induced obesity. Science 361:599-603
Ola, Roxana; Künzel, Sandrine H; Zhang, Feng et al. (2018) SMAD4 Prevents Flow Induced Arteriovenous Malformations by Inhibiting Casein Kinase 2. Circulation 138:2379-2394
Dubrac, Alexandre; Künzel, Steffen E; Künzel, Sandrine H et al. (2018) NCK-dependent pericyte migration promotes pathological neovascularization in ischemic retinopathy. Nat Commun 9:3463
Antila, Salli; Karaman, Sinem; Nurmi, Harri et al. (2017) Development and plasticity of meningeal lymphatic vessels. J Exp Med 214:3645-3667
Lee, Heon-Woo; Chong, Diana C; Ola, Roxana et al. (2017) Alk2/ACVR1 and Alk3/BMPR1A Provide Essential Function for Bone Morphogenetic Protein-Induced Retinal Angiogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 37:657-663
Ntumba, Kalonji; Akla, Naoufal; Oh, S Paul et al. (2016) BMP9/ALK1 inhibits neovascularization in mouse models of age-related macular degeneration. Oncotarget 7:55957-55969
Ola, Roxana; Dubrac, Alexandre; Han, Jinah et al. (2016) PI3 kinase inhibition improves vascular malformations in mouse models of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia. Nat Commun 7:13650
Baeyens, Nicolas; Larrivée, Bruno; Ola, Roxana et al. (2016) Defective fluid shear stress mechanotransduction mediates hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. J Cell Biol 214:807-16
Zhang, Feng; Prahst, Claudia; Mathivet, Thomas et al. (2016) The Robo4 cytoplasmic domain is dispensable for vascular permeability and neovascularization. Nat Commun 7:13517
Dubrac, Alexandre; Genet, Gael; Ola, Roxana et al. (2016) Targeting NCK-Mediated Endothelial Cell Front-Rear Polarity Inhibits Neovascularization. Circulation 133:409-21

Showing the most recent 10 out of 12 publications