General scientific objectives:
Vascular inflammation is a multifactorial pathophysiological process characterized by platelet activation, chemokine/cytokine secretion, cell-cell interaction, and immune cell recruitment on vascular wall. Vascular inflammation is involved in a plethora of vascular diseases including coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, often leading to organ failure. Interestingly, increasing evidence supports the role of chronic vascular inflammation in vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. Our Group studies the role of immunomodulatory chemokines and interleukins in 1) platelet activation, aggregation, secretion, adhesion and spreading; 2) in cell-cell interaction between vascular cells and immune cells; 3) in posttranscriptional regulation of endothelial and platelet microRNAs; and 4) in inflammatory angiogenesis. Our bench findings are further investigated in patients’ cohorts with acute or chronic vascular disease in an effort to early indentify patients at risk of development of a vascular disease or any of its clinical presentations.
Current lab members:
Dr. Konstantinos Stellos, MD (contact) – Group leader
Carolin Amrhein (contact) – lab manager, BTA
Selected publications:
Stellos K, Langer H, Daub K, Schoenberger T, Gauss A, Geisler T, Bigalke B, Mueller I, Schumm M, Schaefer I, Seizer P, Kraemer BF, Siegel-Axel D, May AE, Lindemann S, Gawaz M. Platelet-derived stromal cell-derived factor-1 regulates adhesion and promotes differentiation of human CD34+ cells to endothelial progenitor cells. Circulation. 2008; 117(2):206-15.
Stellos K, Bigalke B, Langer H, Geisler T, Schad A, Pfaff F, Stakos D, Seizer P, Mueller I, Htun P, Lindemann S, Gawaz M. Expression of stromal cell-derived factor-1 on circulating platelets is increased in patients with acute coronary syndrome and correlates with the number of CD34+ progenitor cells. Eur Heart J. 2009; 30(5):584-93.
Stellos K, Bigalke B, Stakos D, Henkelmann N, Gawaz M. Platelet-bound P-selectin expression in patients with coronary artery disease: impact on clinical presentation and myocardial necrosis, and effect of diabetes mellitus and anti-platelet medication. J Thromb Haemost.2010; 8(1):205-7.
Stellos K, Langer H, Gnerlich S, Panagiota V, Ninci E, Menzel D, Mueller I, Bigalke B, Geisler T, Siegel-Axel D, Bültmann A, Lindemann S, Gawaz M. Junctional adhesion molecule A expressed on human CD34+ cells promotes adhesion on vascular wall and differentiation into endothelial progenitor cells. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010; 30(6):1127-36.
Stellos K, Panagiota V, Kögel A, Leyhe T, Gawaz M, Laske C. Predictive value of platelet activation for the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease patients. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2010 30(11):1817-20.
Stellos K, Rahmann A, Kilias A, Ruf M, Sopova K, Stamatelopoulos K, Jorbenadze R, Weretka S, Geisler T, Gawaz M, Weig HJ, Bigalke B. Expression of platelet-bound stromal cell-derived factor-1 in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and ischemic heart disease. J Thromb Haemost.2011; Nov 1. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-7836.2011.04547.x. [Epub ahead of print]
A detailed list of publications of the Group can be found in PubMed here
Current Openings
The training of BSc/MSc/MD/PhD students in biomedical research is a major goal of the laboratory. Prospective applicants are encouraged to apply. Please provide a detailed curriculum vitae including:
1. Prior training and degrees (including pending degrees)
2. A list of research electives and methods applied
3. The names and addresses of at least 2 referees
4. A motivation letter of your reason for interest in the lab and your career goals
…and send your application through Email.
