Anjali Kusumbe

Anjali Kusumbe
Scientific career
Institutions	Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine
Website	Kusumbe Lab

Anjali Kusumbe is a British-Indian biologist who is the Head of the Tissue and Tumour Microenvironments Group at the Medical Research Council Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford. She was awarded the Royal Microscopical Society Award for Life Sciences in 2022.

Early life and education

Kusumbe completed her doctorate as a Fellow of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in 2012. Her doctoral research considered the contributions of cancer stem cells and endothelial cells to the progression of ovarian cancer. She moved to the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine for postdoctoral research, where she studied the heterogeneity of endothelial cells in bone, and uncovered a highly specialised blood vessel type which helped to uncover the relationships between bone vasculature and bone ageing.

Research and career

In 2017, Kusumbe received the Medical Research Council Career Development Award, and in 2019 she was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant. Kusumbe studies the transport networks formed by blood and lymphatic vessels. She is particularly interested in how these vessels evolve over time, and how this impacts the tissue regeneration, immune cells and spread of cancer.

Her work revealed that vascular erosion characterised by the differentiation of pericyte to fibroblast is a primary hallmark of many ageing tissues. This vascular loss with ageing is organ-specific as highly remodelling tissues like the gut and skin retain vasculature with ageing. Further, her work showed that the gap junction protein Gja1 is the driver of endothelial cell ageing in the pancreas, and aged blood vessels cause the loss of beta cell proliferation in ageing islets through alterations in blood vessel-derived secreted factors. She has proactively shared imaging tools with the scientific community and made 3D tissue maps publicly available through freely accessible open resource databases.

It was believed that there were no lymphatic vessels in bones. However, Kusumbe's research, using an advanced imaging technique to label and image intact bones, proved that there are indeed lymphatic vessels in bones. She found out that when the body is stressed and its genetic material gets damaged, the number of these vessels in bones goes up. This whole thing is controlled by signals from proteins like VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 and IL6. And as these lymphatic vessels grow, they secrete CXCL12, which is super important for regenerating both bones and blood.

Awards and honours

• 2014 German Society for Cell Biology Werner-Risau Memorial Award
• 2021 European Calcified Tissue Society Iain T Boyle Memorial Award
• 2021 Orthopaedic Research Society Alice L. Jee Award
• 2022 Royal Microscopical Society Award for Life Sciences
• 2022 GOLD Award for efforts to improve sustainability and efficiency from Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework
• 2024 : Early Career Advisory Board, Journal of Cell Biology
• 2023 : British Society for Cell Biology, Women in Cell Biology Early Career Medal
• 2023 : Rising Star, International Society of Regenerative Medicine
• 2019 : European Research Council, Starting Grant
• 2017 : Medical Research Council, UK, Career Development Award
• 2016 : Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research, Senior Research Fellowship
• 2017 : John Goldman Fellow
• 2005 : Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Fellowship, India
• 2016 : Elected Member - European Calcified Tissue Society Academy
• 2019 : UK Reference Customer, Miltentyi Biotec

Selected publications

1. Kusumbe, A. (2023). Cell scientist to watch – Anjali Kusumbe. J Cell Sci 136. 10.1242/JCS.261544/328433.

2. Biswas, L.*, Chen, J.*, De Angelis.*, J., Singh, A.*, Owen-Woods, C., Ding, Z., Pujol, J.M., Kumar, N., … Kusumbe, A. (2023). Lymphatic vessels in bone support regeneration after injury. Cell 186, 382-397.e24. 10.1016/J.CELL.2022.12.031. * co-first authors (listed in Alphabetical Order)

3. Grockowiak, E., Korn, C., Rak, J., Lysenko, V., Hallou, A., Panvini, F.M., Williams, M., Fielding, C., Fang, Z., Khatib-Massalha, E., et al. (2023). Different niches for stem cells carrying the same oncogenic driver affect pathogenesis and therapy response in myeloproliferative neoplasms. Nat Cancer 4, 1193–1209. 10.1038/S43018-023-00607-X.

4. Xu, Z., Kusumbe, A.P., Cai, H., Wan, Q., and Chen, J. (2023). Type H blood vessels in coupling angiogenesis-osteogenesis and its application in bone tissue engineering. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 111, 1434–1446. 10.1002/JBM.B.35243.

5. Hadjihambi, A., Konstantinou, C., Klohs, J., Monsorno, K., Le Guennec, A., Donnelly, C., Cox, I.J., Kusumbe, A., Hosford, P.S., Soffientini, U., et al. (2023). Partial MCT1 invalidation protects against diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the associated brain dysfunction. J Hepatol 78, 180–190. 10.1016/J.JHEP.2022.08.008.

6. Rodrigues, J., Wang, Y.F., Singh, A., Hendriks, M., Dharmalingam, G., Cohen-Solal, M., Kusumbe, A.P., and Ramasamy, S.K. (2022). Oestrogen enforces the integrity of blood vessels in the bone during pregnancy and menopause. Nature cardiovascular research 1, 918. 10.1038/s44161-022-00139-0.

7. Antanaviciute, A., Kusumbe, A., and Simmons, A. (2022). Lymphatic endothelia stakeout cryptic stem cells. Cell Stem Cell 29, 1292–1293. 10.1016/J.STEM.2022.08.006.

8. Dzamukova, M., Brunner, T.M., Miotla-Zarebska, J., Heinrich, F., Brylka, L., Mashreghi, M.F., Kusumbe, A., Kühn, R., Schinke, T., Vincent, T.L., et al. (2022). Mechanical forces couple bone matrix mineralization with inhibition of angiogenesis to limit adolescent bone growth. Nat Commun 13. 10.1038/S41467-022-30618-8.

9. Owen-Woods, C., and Kusumbe, A. (2022). Fundamentals of bone vasculature: Specialization, interactions and functions. Semin Cell Dev Biol 123, 36–47. 10.1016/J.SEMCDB.2021.06.025.

10. Kumar, N., Saraber, P., Ding, Z., and Kusumbe, A.P. (2021). Diversity of Vascular Niches in Bones and Joints During Homeostasis, Ageing, and Diseases. Front Immunol 12. 10.3389/FIMMU.2021.798211.

11. Stucker, S., De Angelis, J., and Kusumbe, A.P. (2021). Heterogeneity and Dynamics of Vasculature in the Endocrine System During Aging and Disease. Front Physiol 12. 10.3389/FPHYS.2021.624928.

12. Chen, J., Sivan, U., Tan, S.L., Lippo, L., de Angelis, J., Labella, R., Singh, A., Chatzis, A., Cheuk, S., Medhghalchi, M., et al. (2021). High-resolution 3D imaging uncovers organ-specific vascular control of tissue aging. Sci Adv 7. 10.1126/SCIADV.ABD7819.

13. Chen, J., Lippo, L., Labella, R., Tan, S.L., Marsden, B.D., Dustin, M.L., Ramasamy, S.K., and Kusumbe, A.P. (2021). Decreased blood vessel density and endothelial cell subset dynamics during ageing of the endocrine system. EMBO J 40, e105242. 10.15252/EMBJ.2020105242.

14. Biswas, L., Chen, J., Angelis, J. De, Chatzis, A., Nanchahal, J., Dustin, M.L., Ramasamy, S.K., and Kusumbe, A.P. (2021). SUMIC: A Simple Ultrafast Multicolor Immunolabelling and Clearing Approach for Whole-Organ and Large Tissue 3D Imaging. bioRxiv, 2021.01.20.427385. 10.1101/2021.01.20.427385.

15. Stucker, S., Chen, J., Watt, F.E., and Kusumbe, A.P. (2020). Bone Angiogenesis and Vascular Niche Remodeling in Stress, Aging, and Diseases. Front Cell Dev Biol 8. 10.3389/FCELL.2020.602269.

16. Chen, J., Hendriks, M., Chatzis, A., Ramasamy, S.K., and Kusumbe, A.P. (2020). Bone Vasculature and Bone Marrow Vascular Niches in Health and Disease. J Bone Miner Res 35, 2103–2120. 10.1002/JBMR.4171.

17. Sivan, U., De Angelis, J., and Kusumbe, A.P. (2019). Role of angiocrine signals in bone development, homeostasis and disease. Open Biol 9. 10.1098/RSOB.190144. 18. Singh, A., Veeriah, V., Xi, P., Labella, R., Chen, J., Romeo, S.G., Ramasamy, S.K., and Kusumbe, A.P. (2019). Angiocrine signals regulate quiescence and therapy resistance in bone metastasis. JCI Insight 4. 10.1172/JCI.INSIGHT.125679.

19. Romeo, S.G., Alawi, K.M., Rodrigues, J., Singh, A., Kusumbe, A.P., and Ramasamy, S.K. (2019). Endothelial proteolytic activity and interaction with non-resorbing osteoclasts mediate bone elongation. Nature Cell Biology 2019 21:4 21, 430–441. 10.1038/s41556-019-0304-7.

20. Duarte, D., Hawkins, E.D., Akinduro, O., Ang, H., De Filippo, K., Kong, I.Y., Haltalli, M., Ruivo, N., Straszkowski, L., Vervoort, S.J., et al. (2018). Inhibition of Endosteal Vascular Niche Remodeling Rescues Hematopoietic Stem Cell Loss in AML. Cell Stem Cell 22, 64-77.e6. 10.1016/J.STEM.2017.11.006.

21. Langen, U.H., Pitulescu, M.E., Kim, J.M., Enriquez-Gasca, R., Sivaraj, K.K., Kusumbe, A.P., Singh, A., Di Russo, J., Bixel, M.G., Zhou, B., et al. (2017). Cell-matrix signals specify bone endothelial cells during developmental osteogenesis. Nat Cell Biol 19, 189–201. 10.1038/NCB3476.

22. Bixel, M.G., Kusumbe, A.P., Ramasamy, S.K., Sivaraj, K.K., Butz, S., Vestweber, D., and Adams, R.H. (2017). Flow Dynamics and HSPC Homing in Bone Marrow Microvessels. Cell Rep 18, 1804–1816. 10.1016/J.CELREP.2017.01.042.

23. Allocca, G., Kusumbe, A.P., Ramasamy, S.K., and Wang, N. (2016). Confocal/two-photon microscopy in studying colonisation of cancer cells in bone using xenograft mouse models. Bonekey Rep 5. 10.1038/BONEKEY.2016.84.

24. Ramasamy, S.K., Kusumbe, A.P., Schiller, M., Zeuschner, D., Bixel, M.G., Milia, C., Gamrekelashvili, J., Limbourg, A., Medvinsky, A., Santoro, M.M., et al. (2016). Blood flow controls bone vascular function and osteogenesis. Nat Commun 7. 10.1038/NCOMMS13601.

25. Ramasamy, S.K., Kusumbe, A.P., Itkin, T., Gur-Cohen, S., Lapidot, T., and Adams, R.H. (2016). Regulation of Hematopoiesis and Osteogenesis by Blood Vessel–Derived Signals. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-cellbio-111315-124936 32, 649–675. 10.1146/ANNUREV-CELLBIO-111315-124936.

26. Kusumbe, A.P. (2016). Vascular niches for disseminated tumour cells in bone. J Bone Oncol 5, 112–116. 10.1016/J.JBO.2016.04.003.

27. Itkin, T., Gur-Cohen, S., Spencer, J.A., Schajnovitz, A., Ramasamy, S.K., Kusumbe, A.P., Ledergor, G., Jung, Y., Milo, I., Poulos, M.G., et al. (2016). Distinct bone marrow blood vessels differentially regulate haematopoiesis. Nature 2016 532:7599 532, 323–328. 10.1038/nature17624.

28. Kusumbe, A.P., Ramasamy, S.K., Starsichova, A., and Adams, R.H. (2015). Sample preparation for high-resolution 3D confocal imaging of mouse skeletal tissue. Nat Protoc 10, 1904–1914. 10.1038/NPROT.2015.125.

29. Ramasamy, S.K., Kusumbe, A.P., and Adams, R.H. (2015). Regulation of tissue morphogenesis by endothelial cell-derived signals. Trends Cell Biol 25, 148–157. 10.1016/J.TCB.2014.11.007.

30. Kusumbe, A.P., and Adams, R.H. (2014). Osteoclast progenitors promote bone vascularization and osteogenesis. Nature Medicine 2014 20:11 20, 1238–1240. 10.1038/nm.3747.

31. Ramasamy, S.K., Kusumbe, A.P., Wang, L., and Adams, R.H. (2014). Endothelial Notch activity promotes angiogenesis and osteogenesis in bone. Nature 507, 376–380. 10.1038/NATURE13146.

32. Kusumbe, A.P., Ramasamy, S.K., and Adams, R.H. (2014). Coupling of angiogenesis and osteogenesis by a specific vessel subtype in bone. Nature 507, 323–328. 10.1038/NATURE13145.

33. Bapat, S.A., Krishnan, A., Ghanate, A.D., Kusumbe, A.P., and Kalra, R.S. (2010). Gene expression: protein interaction systems network modeling identifies transformation-associated molecules and pathways in ovarian cancer. Cancer Res 70, 4809–4819. 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-0447.

34. Kusumbe, A.P., and Bapat, S.A. (2009). Cancer stem cells and aneuploid populations within developing tumors are the major determinants of tumor dormancy. Cancer Res 69, 9245–9253. 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-2802.

35. Kusumbe, A.P., Mali, A.M., and Bapat, S.A. (2009). CD133-expressing stem cells associated with ovarian metastases establish an endothelial hierarchy and contribute to tumor vasculature. Stem Cells 27, 498–508. 10.1634/STEMCELLS.2008-0868.

• Saravana K Ramasamy; Anjali P Kusumbe; Lin Wang; Ralf H Adams (12 March 2014). "Endothelial Notch activity promotes angiogenesis and osteogenesis in bone". Nature. 507 (7492): 376–380. doi:10.1038/NATURE13146. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 4943529. PMID 24647000. Wikidata Q37091548.
• Anjali P Kusumbe; Saravana K Ramasamy; Tomer Itkin; Maarja Andaloussi Mäe; Urs H Langen; Christer Betsholtz; Tsvee Lapidot; Ralf H Adams (13 April 2016). "Age-dependent modulation of vascular niches for haematopoietic stem cells". Nature. 532 (7599): 380–384. doi:10.1038/NATURE17638. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 5035541. PMID 27074508. Wikidata Q37280872. (erratum)
• Saravana K Ramasamy; Anjali P Kusumbe; Maria Schiller; et al. (6 December 2016). "Blood flow controls bone vascular function and osteogenesis". Nature Communications. 7: 13601. Bibcode:2016NatCo...713601R. doi:10.1038/NCOMMS13601. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 5150650. PMID 27922003. Wikidata Q30831553.