Unexpected role for glutamine sythetase in transmigration and angiogenesis

Sanquin contributes to nature paper

Nature Jaap van BuulTogether with the group of Peter Carmeliet, this year recipient of the prestigious Heineken award for medicine, Jaap van Buul's group found an unexpected role for the metabolic enzyme protein glutamine synthetase.

This enzyme turned out to play a pivotal role for endothelial cell migration and the formation of new blood vessels, called angiogenesis. The findings were recently published in Nature.

Because of this work, Glutamine synthetase may function as a therapeutic target to fight blood vessel-related diseases.