The proposal entails a 5 year career development plan for attaining an academic career in Hematology. The principle investigator has completed both residency in Internal Medicine and Hematology/Oncology Fellowship and now is expanding her research skills through a project with both basic science and translational aspects. The project is an integration of the fields of platelet biology and angiogenesis. Dr. Joseph Italiano and Dr. Nancy Berliner will act as co-mentors for the principal investigator. Dr. Italiano is a well recognized leader in the field of megakaryocyte and platelet biology. To enhance the academic mentoring aspects of the program, Dr. Nancy Berliner, Chair of the Division of Hematology at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) will serve as a co-mentor. In addition to her role as Director, she has a long-term expertise in myelopoiesis and has mentored a large number of young investigators. In addition, the principle investigator has assembled an advisory committee with varied scientific and clinical interests to provide scientific and academic career advice. The project will focus on the role of the platelet in angiogenesis. Recent evidence suggests that platelets organize angiogenic regulatory proteins into pharmacologically and morphologically distinct populations of alpha granules, which are then susceptible to differential regulation upon platelet activation. This proposal will entail establishing the organization of angiogenic regulatory proteins in alpha granules and understanding mechanisms of differential release. The angiogenic balance within platelet granules will also be investigated in patients with malignancy as well as those receiving anti-angiogenic therapies.
The specific aims are: 1. To define how angiogenesis regulatory proteins are sequestered and stored in platelets;2. To investigate the mechanisms by which these proteins undergo differential release;and 3. To investigate the role of the platelet in storage, delivery, and function of ant-angiogenic therapy.

Public Health Relevance

Platelets are known to carry a number of proteins important in the process of growing blood vessels termed angiogenesis. In this grant we try to determine how platelets organize the proteins, regulate angiogenesis, and how these processes differ in patients with malignancy in which angiogenesis is instrumental for tumor growth.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
1K08HL097070-01
Application #
7708641
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHL1-CSR-O (M1))
Program Officer
Commarato, Michael
Project Start
2009-09-01
Project End
2014-06-30
Budget Start
2009-09-01
Budget End
2010-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$136,958
Indirect Cost
Name
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Department
Type
DUNS #
030811269
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02115
Johnson, Kelly E; Forward, Jodi A; Tippy, Mason D et al. (2017) Tamoxifen Directly Inhibits Platelet Angiogenic Potential and Platelet-Mediated Metastasis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 37:664-674
Battinelli, Elisabeth M; Markens, Beth A; Kulenthirarajan, Rajesh A et al. (2014) Anticoagulation inhibits tumor cell-mediated release of platelet angiogenic proteins and diminishes platelet angiogenic response. Blood 123:101-12
Kuznetsov, Hanna S; Marsh, Timothy; Markens, Beth A et al. (2012) Identification of luminal breast cancers that establish a tumor-supportive macroenvironment defined by proangiogenic platelets and bone marrow-derived cells. Cancer Discov 2:1150-65
Battinelli, Elisabeth M; Markens, Beth A; Italiano Jr, Joseph E (2011) Release of angiogenesis regulatory proteins from platelet alpha granules: modulation of physiologic and pathologic angiogenesis. Blood 118:1359-69