Tsutomu Kume, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine

Dr. Kume received BS, MS and PhD degrees from the University of Tokyo, Japan.  He completed his postdoctoral training in developmental biology at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2000.  After serving on the faculty of Vanderbilt University, Dr. Kume joined Northwestern University in June 2009.

Dr. Kume’s research interests focus on cardiovascular development, cardiovascular stem/progenitor cells, and angiogenesis.  Current studies include the role of Foxc transcription factors in cardiovascular development and disease.

Dr. Kume is a member of the American Heart Association, the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the North American Vascular Biology Organization, and the Society for Developmental Biology.

Abnormal formation of blood vessels in Foxc1-/-; Foxc2-/- mutant embryos.

Selected Publications

Lagha, M.; Brunelli, S.; Messina, G.; Kume, T.; Relaix, F.; and Buckingham, M.  Pax3/7:Foxc2 reciprocal repression in the somite modulates multipotent stem cell fates.  Dev. Cell 2009, (In press).

Kume, T.  Specification of arterial, venous and lymphatic endothelial cells during development.  Histol. Histopathol. 2009 (In press)

Siegenthaler, J.; Ashique, M.; Zarbalis, K.; Patterson, K.; Hecht, J.; Kane, M.; Folias, A.; Napoli, J.; Kume, T.; Petterson, A.; Pleasure, S.  Retinoic acid from the meninges regulates cortical neuron generation. Cell 2009 (In press)

Hayashi, H. and Kume, T.  Foxc2 transcription factor as a regulator of angiogenesis via induction of integrin-beta-3 expression. Cell Adh. Migr. 2009, 3, 24-26.

Kume, T.  Foxc2 transcription factor: a newly described regulator of angiogenesis. Trends Cardiovas. Med. 2008, 18, 224-228.

Hong, C. C.; Kume, T.; Peterson, R. T.  Role of crosstalk between phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways in artery-vein specification. Circ. Res. 2008, 103, 573-579.

Hayashi, H.; Sano, H.; Seo, H.; Kume, T.  The Foxc2 transcription factor regulates angiogenesis via induction of integrin b3 expression. J. Biol. Chem. 2008, 283, 23791-23800.

Hayashi, H. and Kume, T.  Foxc transcription factors directly regulate Dll4 and Hey2 expression by interacting with the VEGF-Notch signaling pathways in endothelial cells. PLoS ONE 2008, 3, e2401.

Hayashi, H. and Kume, T.  Forkhead transcription factors regulate expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 in endothelial cells and CXCL12-induced cell migration. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2008, 367, 584-589.

Corriere, M. A.; Rogers, C. M.; Eliason, J. L.; Faulk, J.; Kume, T.; Hogan, B. L.; Guzman, R. J.  Endothelial Bmp4 is induced during arterial remodeling: Effects on smooth muscle cell migration and proliferation. J. Surg. Res. 2008, 145, 142-149.

Seo, S. and Kume, T.  Forkhead transcription factors, Foxc1 and Foxc2, are required for the morphogenesis of the cardiac outflow tract. Dev. Biol. 2006, 296, 421-436.

Seo, S.; Fujita, H.; Nakano, A.; Kang, M.; Duarte, A.; Kume, T.  The forkhead transcription factors, Foxc1 and Foxc2, are required for arterial specification and lymphatic sprouting during vascular development. Dev. Biol. 2006, 294, 458-470.

Mattiske, D.; Kume, T.; Hogan, B. L.  The mouse forkhead gene Foxc1 is required for primordial germ cell migration and antral follicle development. Dev Biol. 2006, 290, 447-458.

Fujita, H.; Kang, M.; Eren, M.; Gleaves, L. A.; Vaughan, D. E.; Kume, T.  Foxc2 is a common mediator of insulin and transforming growth factor signaling to regulate plasminogen activator inhibitor type I gene expression. Circ. Res. 2006, 98, 626-634.