Project B03

Contact between endothelial and mural cells is crucial for the establishment and maintenance of blood-tissue barriers. This project addresses the concept that endothelial cell-pericyte contact facilitates the transfer of metabolites (in particular lactate) to maintain the cells in a quiescent and differentiated state. This will be addressed experimentally using a combination of metabolomics, proteomics, 13C glucose flux analyses and next generation sequencing under basal conditional and following knockdown of the lactate transporters SLC16A1/3. The consequences of inactivation of the lactate shuttle will be assessed in the heart after myocardial infarction and in the eye after laser induced choroid injury.