Anna Dimberg – Tumour vascular biology
The aim of our research is to understand how vessel phenotype is altered in tumours, and how the abnormal vasculature affects the tumour microenvironment and the response to different types of cancer therapy. A main interest is to investigate how differential gene expression in tumour endothelial cells affects immune response and tumour progression. The long-term goal is to identify vascular targeting strategies that can be used to improve the response to cancer therapy, including immunotherapy.
Blood vessel formation and inflammation are closely linked processes that affect the clinical outcome of several pathological conditions, including cancer. Endothelial cells, lining the inside of vessels, are central players in both these processes. They initiate the formation of new vessels after growth factor stimulation and regulate extravasation of inflammatory cells from the blood stream into the tissue. Endothelial cells also play a central role in the organization of immune hubs.
We are combining studies in human tumour tissues with experimental cancer models and in vitro cell culture assays to understand the role of the tumour vessels in organising the tumour microenvironment. Our new knowledge is used to develop new strategies to treat cancer.

Group members
Publications
CD93 maintains endothelial barrier function and limits metastatic dissemination
Part of JCI Insight, 2024
- DOI for CD93 maintains endothelial barrier function and limits metastatic dissemination
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Single-cell dissection of the human blood-brain barrier and glioma blood-tumor barrier
Part of Neuron, 2024
Vascular characterization reveals immunomodulatory targets for brain metastases
Part of Cancer Cell, p. 328-330, 2024
VLDLR mediates Semliki Forest virus neuroinvasion through the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier
Part of Nature Communications, 2024
- DOI for VLDLR mediates Semliki Forest virus neuroinvasion through the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier
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Part of The FASEB Journal, 2023
- DOI for CD93 maintains endothelial barrier function by limiting the phosphorylation and turnover of VE-cadherin
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Complementarity-determining region clustering may cause CAR-T cell dysfunction
Part of Nature Communications, 2023
- DOI for Complementarity-determining region clustering may cause CAR-T cell dysfunction
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Part of International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, p. 453-464, 2023
- DOI for Dimerization of the C-type lectin-like receptor CD93 promotes its binding to Multimerin-2 in endothelial cells
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Editorial: The blood-brain barrier in brain tumors: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic strategies
Part of Frontiers in Neurology, 2023
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Part of Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2023
- DOI for Endothelial VEGFR2-PLCγ signaling regulates vascular permeability and antitumor immunity through eNOS/Src
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Of mice and lymphoid aggregates: modeling tertiary lymphoid structures in cancer
Part of Frontiers in Immunology, 2023
- DOI for Of mice and lymphoid aggregates: modeling tertiary lymphoid structures in cancer
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Tailoring vascular phenotype through AAV therapy promotes anti-tumor immunity in glioma
Part of Cancer Cell, p. 1134-1151, 2023
- DOI for Tailoring vascular phenotype through AAV therapy promotes anti-tumor immunity in glioma
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Wnt signaling regulates MFSD2A-dependent drug delivery through endothelial transcytosis in glioma
Part of Neuro-Oncology, p. 1073-1084, 2023
A method for Boolean analysis of protein interactions at a molecular level
Part of Nature Communications, 2022
- DOI for A method for Boolean analysis of protein interactions at a molecular level
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Tertiary Lymphoid Structures: From Basic Biology to Translational Impact in Cancer. Editorial
Part of Frontiers in Immunology, 2022
- DOI for Tertiary Lymphoid Structures: From Basic Biology to Translational Impact in Cancer. Editorial
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Part of Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, p. 2029-2040, 2022
- DOI for Vaccination against galectin-1 promotes cytotoxic T-cell infiltration in melanoma and reduces tumor burden
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Part of Cellular Oncology, p. 193-204, 2021
Part of Nature Communications, 2021
- DOI for Agonistic CD40 therapy induces tertiary lymphoid structures but impairs responses to checkpoint blockade in glioma
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Part of Science Translational Medicine, 2021
CD93 Signaling via Rho Proteins Drives Cytoskeletal Remodeling in Spreading Endothelial Cells
Part of International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2021
- DOI for CD93 Signaling via Rho Proteins Drives Cytoskeletal Remodeling in Spreading Endothelial Cells
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Part of Cancers, 2021
- DOI for Deletions on Chromosome Y and Downregulation of the SRY Gene in Tumor Tissue Are Associated with Worse Survival of Glioblastoma Patients
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Part of Neuro-Oncology, p. 398-411, 2021
- DOI for ELTD1-deletion reduces vascular abnormality and improves T-cell recruitment after PD-1 blockade in glioma.
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Part of MOLECULAR THERAPY-ONCOLYTICS, p. 37-46, 2021
- DOI for IFN-I-tolerant oncolytic Semliki Forest virus in combination with anti-PD1 enhances T cell response against mouse glioma
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Part of JCI Insight, 2021
- DOI for Key molecular alterations in endothelial cells in human glioblastoma uncovered through single-cell RNA sequencing
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Part of Matrix Biology, p. 1-17, 2021
Part of Development, 2020
Platelet-Specific PDGFB Ablation Impairs Tumor Vessel Integrity and Promotes Metastasis
Part of Cancer Research, p. 3345-3358, 2020
The Binding of CD93 to Multimerin-2 Promotes Choroidal Neovascularization
Part of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 2020
- DOI for The Binding of CD93 to Multimerin-2 Promotes Choroidal Neovascularization
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Tumor angiogenesis: causes, consequences, challenges and opportunities
Part of Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (CMLS), p. 1745-1770, 2020
- DOI for Tumor angiogenesis: causes, consequences, challenges and opportunities
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Part of Oncoimmunology, 2020
- DOI for Tumor endothelial cell up-regulation of IDO1 is an immunosuppressive feed-back mechanism that reduces the response to CD40-stimulating immunotherapy
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Tumor endothelial ELTD1 as a predictive marker for treatment of renal cancer patients with sunitinib
Part of BMC Cancer, 2020
- DOI for Tumor endothelial ELTD1 as a predictive marker for treatment of renal cancer patients with sunitinib
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Part of Cancers, 2019
- DOI for Coagulation Factor Xa Promotes Solid Tumor Growth, Experimental Metastasis and Endothelial Cell Activation
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Part of European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, p. 569-579, 2019
Part of Cell Communication and Signaling, 2019
- DOI for The small GTPase Rab5c is a key regulator of trafficking of the CD93/Multimerin-2/1 integrin complex in endothelial cell adhesion and migration
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Bones in human CYP26B1 deficiency and rats with hypervitaminosis A phenocopy Vegfa overexpression
Part of Bone Reports, p. 27-36, 2018
- DOI for Bones in human CYP26B1 deficiency and rats with hypervitaminosis A phenocopy Vegfa overexpression
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CD93 promotes β1 integrin activation and fibronectin fibrillogenesis during tumor angiogenesis
Part of Journal of Clinical Investigation, p. 3280-3297, 2018
- DOI for CD93 promotes β1 integrin activation and fibronectin fibrillogenesis during tumor angiogenesis
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Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays
Part of Angiogenesis, p. 425-532, 2018
- DOI for Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays
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Part of Neuro-Oncology, p. 1505-1516, 2018
- DOI for IDH mutation status is associated with distinct vascular gene expression signatures in lower-grade gliomas
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Osteoglycin - A switch from angiogenesis to T-cell recruitment?
Part of EBioMedicine, p. 22-23, 2018
- DOI for Osteoglycin - A switch from angiogenesis to T-cell recruitment?
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Vascular Targeting to Increase the Efficiency of Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Cancer
Part of Frontiers in Immunology, 2018
- DOI for Vascular Targeting to Increase the Efficiency of Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Cancer
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Activating CD40 While Inhibiting IL6R Induces Cytokine Production without PDL1 Upregulation in DCs
Part of Molecular Therapy, p. 54-54, 2017
Part of Gene Therapy, p. 92-103, 2017
- DOI for Activation of myeloid and endothelial cells by CD40L gene therapy supports T-cell expansion and migration into the tumor microenvironment
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Part of European Journal of Immunology, p. 385-393, 2017
Part of Oncoimmunology, 2017
Part of Clinical Cancer Research, p. 1519-1530, 2017
Part of Clinical Cancer Research, p. 5846-5857, 2017
Part of Seminars in Cancer Biology, p. 23-35, 2017
- DOI for The cancer-immunity cycle as rational design for synthetic cancer drugs: Novel DC vaccines and CAR T-cells
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Part of BMC Cancer, 2016
- DOI for ANLN is a prognostic biomarker independent of Ki-67 and essential for cell cycle progression in primary breast cancer
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Heparanase Promotes Glioma Progression and is Inversely Correlated with Patient Survival.
Part of Molecular Cancer Research, p. 1243-1253, 2016
Part of Oncotarget, p. 80382-80390, 2016
- DOI for Pleiotrophin enhances PDGFB-induced gliomagenesis through increased proliferation of neural progenitor cells
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Pleiotrophin is a driver of vascular abnormalization in glioblastoma
Part of Molecular & Cellular Oncology, 2016
Part of Oncotarget, p. 50277-50289, 2016
- DOI for Sunitinib enhances the antitumor responses of agonistic CD40-antibody by reducing MDSCs and synergistically improving endothelial activation and T-cell recruitment
- Download full text (pdf) of Sunitinib enhances the antitumor responses of agonistic CD40-antibody by reducing MDSCs and synergistically improving endothelial activation and T-cell recruitment
Part of Oncoimmunology, 2016
Part of Cancer Research, p. 4504-4516, 2015
Part of Cancer Research, p. 2653-2662, 2015
Next-Generation Pathology: Surveillance of Tumor Microecology
Part of Journal of Molecular Biology, p. 2013-2022, 2015
Part of Science Signaling, 2015
Tumor-Induced Local and Systemic Impact on Blood Vessel Function
Part of Mediators of Inflammation, 2015
- DOI for Tumor-Induced Local and Systemic Impact on Blood Vessel Function
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Part of The FASEB Journal, p. 227-238, 2015
Part of Cancer Gene Therapy, p. 95-102, 2014
Part of Angiogenesis, p. 769-769, 2014
Subtyping of gliomas of various WHO grades by the application of immunohistochemistry
Part of Histopathology, p. 365-379, 2014
The glioblastoma vasculature as a target for cancer therapy
Part of Biochemical Society Transactions, p. 1647-1652, 2014
Therapeutic vaccination against fibronectin ED-A attenuates progression of metastatic breast cancer.
Part of Oncotarget, p. 12418-12427, 2014
Part of The FASEB Journal, p. 151-162, 2013
Part of Angiogenesis, p. 975-983, 2013
- DOI for alpha B-crystallin/HspB5 regulates endothelial-leukocyte interactions by enhancing NF-kappa B-induced up-regulation of adhesion molecules ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-selectin
- Download full text (pdf) of alpha B-crystallin/HspB5 regulates endothelial-leukocyte interactions by enhancing NF-kappa B-induced up-regulation of adhesion molecules ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-selectin
Part of Nature Communications, p. 1672, 2013
Part of PLOS ONE, 2012
- DOI for GABA-A Channel Subunit Expression in Human Glioma Correlates with Tumor Histology and Clinical Outcome
- Download full text (pdf) of GABA-A Channel Subunit Expression in Human Glioma Correlates with Tumor Histology and Clinical Outcome
Part of Developmental Dynamics, p. 770-786, 2012
Part of BMC Cancer, p. 318, 2012
- DOI for Stat1 activation attenuates IL-6 induced Stat3 activity but does not alter apoptosis sensitivity in multiple myeloma
- Download full text (pdf) of Stat1 activation attenuates IL-6 induced Stat3 activity but does not alter apoptosis sensitivity in multiple myeloma
Part of Journal of Pathology, p. 378-390, 2012
Part of Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, p. 538-548, 2011
Part of Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, p. 59-80, 2010
Part of Molecular Cancer Research, p. 1792-1802, 2009
Part of The FASEB Journal, p. 1490-1502, 2009
Part of Blood, p. 2015-2023, 2008
Part of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, p. 2123-2130, 2008
Endocan is a VEGF-A and PI3K regulated gene with increased expression in human renal cancer
Part of Experimental Cell Research, p. 1285-1294, 2007
FGFR-1 regulates angiogenesis through cytokines interleukin-4 and pleiotrophin
Part of Blood, p. 4214-4222, 2007
Part of Molecular Immunology, p. 615-624, 2007
Part of Stem Cells, p. 2987-2995, 2007
Part of Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, p. 271-279, 2006
VEGF receptor signalling: in control of vascular function
Part of Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology, p. 359-371, 2006
Part of Blood, 2005
Part of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, p. 944-949, 2005
Part of J Biol Chem, p. 42397-404, 2005
VEGF receptor-2 Y951 signaling and a role for the adapter molecule TSAd in tumor angiogenesis.
Part of EMBO J, p. 2342-53, 2005
Rapamycin sensitizes multiple myeloma cells to apoptosis induced by dexamethasone.
Part of Blood, p. 3138-47, 2004
Retinoic acid-induced cell cycle arrest of human myeloid cell lines.
Part of Leuk Lymphoma, p. 1641, 2003
Part of Blood, p. 254, 2003
Part of Blood, p. 2199, 2002
Part of Blood, p. 2870, 2000