Regulation of mesenchymal stem cells during vascular remodelling by platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha.

Our research will be presented orally at scientific meetings and conferences, and in peer-reviewed research papers, review-type articles. We will publish articles in magazines and newsletters aimed at biotechnology and healthcare industries.
A likely avenue for lay reporting will be communicating with school students as part of our outreach programmes in which students visit the host laboratory, or through the Manchester Museum, which organises regular science days. Our laboratory regularly hosts work experience students.

Mesenchymal stem cells in bone marrow and perivascular niches act as a source of multipotential cells for tissue regeneration. We have discovered that, in bone marrow-derived MSC, vascular endothelial growth factor-A activates platelet-derived growth factor receptors which, in turn, regulate migration, proliferation and vascular differentiation. We also have evidence for the involvement of neuropilin-1, beta1 integrins and vascular extracellular matrix in platelet-derived growth factor receptor activation. Building on these advances, this proposal is to study ligand-specific platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha signalling in mesenchymal stem cells, and its role in vascular remodelling.