Posted: 03:44 pm, May 16, 2012 by Events HLITitle: "Deconstructing and Reconstructing the Human Microvasculature"
Speaker: Jordan S. Pober, MD, PhD
Thursday June 21, 2012 from 11:00am-12:00pm, James Hogg Research Centre (3rd Floor Burrard Building, St. Paul's Hospital)
Abstract: Microvessels are the conduits of tissue perfusion and provide the major exchange surface between the blood and the tissues. The endothelial cells (ECs) that line the microvasculature differ among tissues and among different segments of microvessels within the same tissue. Some of these differences may arise as a result of developmental fate decisions, but EC remain plastic. For example, human umbilical vein ECs can, upon implantation into an immunodeficent mouse host, can form the lining of arterioles, capillaries and venules. In this presentation, I will describe some recently characterized molecular differences among the human ECs that line different vascular segments that underlie some of these functional differences, emphasizing distinctions between continuous capillaries and post-capillary venules. I will also describe our ongoing efforts to optimize the use of human ECs to generate a functional microvasculature for the purposes of tissue engineering.
More information:
Special Seminar - June 21 2012_3.pdf
