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Laboratory of Neurovascular Signaling

Faculty of Sciences | Molecular Biology

(Code: ULB131)


Person in charge of the unit : VANHOLLEBEKE Benoît.

Our goal is to understand how the vascular and neural systems dynamically communicate to orchestrate brain development and function. It is now clear that
blood vessels are more than passive conduits for blood flow and that tissue-specific vascular beds not only match the metabolic demands of the perfused
organs but also act as important signaling centers releasing angiocrine factors that govern tissue morphogenesis and function. Proper brain function relies on
elaborate neurovascular communications that, when perturbed, often have disabling or fatal consequences. Hence, there is great interest in studying the
mechanisms that shape the anatomy and control the functionality of the cerebrovasculature, not only to better understand how the brain develops and works, but
also to elaborate innovative therapeutic strategies for neurological disorders. We leverage the zebrafish brain as a normoxic and transparent setting to
explore CNS neurovascular interactions in real time and at single-cell resolution in order to better understand through which cellular and molecular
mechanisms CNS vascular invasion and maturation are controlled by neural signals and, reciprocally, how the developing vascular system impacts brain patterning
and function.In addition, our laboratory contains two independent research sub-units studying molecular parasitology and inflammation molecular biology.

Campus : Campus de Charleroi
Location : IBMM, niveau 2, local AS.2.110
Address : CP300 Gosselies
Phone number : +32-2-650.97.61
Fax : +32-2-650.97.50
E-mail : Benoit.Vanhollebeke@ulb.ac.be
Web site : http://nvasc.ulb.be/vanhollebekelab/


Disciplines CRef :


 • Microbiology and protistology (human and animal parasitology)

 • Molecular biology

 • Parasitology