# How Tetraspanins Regulate Vascular Morphogenesis

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR · 2020 · $424,152

## Abstract

Vascular morphogenesis requires proper endothelial cell (EC) adhesion and migration.
Transmembrane proteins tetraspanins are abundantly and ubiquitously present in endothelia. Our
recent finding indicates that tetraspanin CD82 inhibits neovascularization in response to
pathological stimuli. Our study also revealed that this tetraspanin inhibits neovascularization by
restraining EC movement, restrains EC movement by confining EC adhesions, and confines EC
adhesion by facilitating the endocytosis of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) and preventing the
aggregation of lipid rafts at the plasma membrane. The explicit and complete mechanisms that
govern CD82-mediated inhibitions of pathological angiogenesis and EC movement, however, still
remain largely unknown at the molecular, cellular, and organism levels.
 To elucidate how CD82 inhibits neovascularization, we hypothesize that, at the cellular level,
CD82 down-regulates the dynamic EC-matrix adhesion, which is needed for proper EC movement.
At the molecular level, CD82 reduces the functional cell adhesion proteins at the EC surface by
altering the molecular landscape of membrane lipids and subsequently the endocytic machinery of
ECs. In this project, we will first determine the mechanism by which CD82 selectively restrains
pathological neovascularization. We will identify the CD82 effecter(s) that specifically affects
pathological neovascularization, determine if CD82 confines angiogenic signaling that
preferentially affects pathological neovascularization, and assess the effect of CD82 on the EC
event(s) that mainly affects pathological neovascularization. Secondly, we will determine the
mechanism by which CD82 alters the trafficking of cell adhesion molecules by examining the
effects of CD82 on their endocytosis, recycling, and exosomal release in ECs. Finally, we will
determine how CD82 organizes the membrane microdomains of ECs by assessing the activities of
glycosphingolipid-metabolic enzymes upon CD82 removal, the regulatory effects of gangliosides
on membrane microdomains, and the roles of gangliosides in CAM trafficking and in CD82-
mediated inhibitions of EC movement and pathological angiogenesis. Thus, the goal of this project
is to understand how CD82 selectively restrains pathological angiogenesis at the molecular,
cellular, and organism levels.
 From these studies, we will delineate the mechanisms by which tetraspanins regulate vascular
morphogenesis, establish a novel paradigm between pathological angiogenesis and membrane
microdomain organization, and reveal the signaling axis that governs the crosstalk between EC
movement and EC adhesion. From the in-depth mechanistic study, we will develop an integrated
understanding of the unique features of CD82, which will ultimately lead to the development of
therapeutic mean against pathological angiogenesis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9985635
- **Project number:** 5R01HL137819-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** XIN A ZHANG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $424,152
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9985635

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9985635, How Tetraspanins Regulate Vascular Morphogenesis (5R01HL137819-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9985635. Licensed CC0.

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