(From the Applicant?s Abstract): The long-term objectives of this proposal are to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of angiogenesis through the study of periorbital hemangiomas, to design new treatments for theses tumors based on their biological characteristics, and to apply these findings to the study of ocular angiogenesis. Hemangiomas are vascular tumors that grow rapidly and then undergo spontaneous involution. Thus this tumor represents an excellent model to study proliferative and involutional phases of angiogenesis; insight gained into mechanism should be applicable to understanding and developing treatments for neovascular eye diseases in general, the leading causes of visual loss in Americans. These tumors frequently occur periorbitally and threaten vision, giving a second level of relevance to the eye. We will use multiphoton confocal microscopy to study integrin expression in human hemangioma specimens. An animal model of hemangioma has been established and will allow us to test new approaches to the treatment of these lesions. While in vitro investigations will determine, at the molecular level, the role of integrins in hemangioma. Proliferating hemangioma will be coompard to hemangioma in the involtuing phase in terms of gene expression using microassay technology to identifygenes involved in growth and regression. Insight into angiogenic mechanism gained from these studies should be applicable to other diseases with an angiogenic component such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, arthritis and cancer.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
1F32EY013916-01
Application #
6445460
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-SSS-R (20))
Program Officer
Dudley, Peter A
Project Start
2001-09-30
Project End
Budget Start
2001-09-30
Budget End
2002-09-29
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2001
Total Cost
$34,832
Indirect Cost
Name
Scripps Research Institute
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
La Jolla
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92037
Ritter, Matthew R; Reinisch, John; Friedlander, Sheila Fallon et al. (2006) Myeloid cells in infantile hemangioma. Am J Pathol 168:621-8
Ritter, Matthew R; Banin, Eyal; Moreno, Stacey K et al. (2006) Myeloid progenitors differentiate into microglia and promote vascular repair in a model of ischemic retinopathy. J Clin Invest 116:3266-76
Ritter, Matthew R; Aguilar, Edith; Banin, Eyal et al. (2005) Three-dimensional in vivo imaging of the mouse intraocular vasculature during development and disease. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 46:3021-6
Ritter, Matthew R; Moreno, Stacey K; Dorrell, Michael I et al. (2003) Identifying potential regulators of infantile hemangioma progression through large-scale expression analysis: a possible role for the immune system and indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO) during involution. Lymphat Res Biol 1:291-9
Ritter, Matthew R; Dorrell, Michael I; Edmonds, Joseph et al. (2002) Insulin-like growth factor 2 and potential regulators of hemangioma growth and involution identified by large-scale expression analysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99:7455-60