Milena Petkova

Research interest

Immune trafficking through the lymphatics during cancer and inflammation
 

Education & positions held

2025 – present
Postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Cornelia Halin, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Immunology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland

2024 – 2025
Postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Taija Mäkinen, Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Rudbeck laboratoriet, Uppsala University, Sweden

2018 – 2024
PhD thesis in Vascular Biology with accent on lymphatic malformations with Prof. Taija Mäkinen, Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Rudbeck laboratoriet, Uppsala University, Sweden

2016 – 2018
Project assistant in Prof. Christer Betsholtz research group, Vascular biology, Uppsala University, Sweden

2014 – 2016
MSc in Medical Research, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology Uppsala University, Sweden

2011 – 2014
BSc in Molecular Biology, Department of Cytology, Histology and Embryology, Biology Faculty, Sofia University, Bulgaria

Publications 

Petkova, M., Ferby, I., Mäkinen, T., 2024. Lymphatic malformations: mechanistic insights and evolving therapeutic frontiers. J. Clin. Invest. 134. external page https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI172844

Mohanakrishnan, V., Sivaraj, K.K., Jeong, H.-W., Bovay, E., Dharmalingam, B., Bixel, M.G., Dinh, V.V., Petkova, M., Paredes Ugarte, I., Kuo, Y.-T., Gurusamy, M., Raftrey, B., Chu, N.T.L., Das, S., Rios Coronado, P.E., Stehling, M., Sävendahl, L., Chagin, A.S., Mäkinen, T., Red-Horse, K., Adams, R.H., 2024. Specialized post-arterial capillaries facilitate adult bone remodelling. Nat. Cell Biol. external page https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-024-01545-1

Petkova, M., Kraft, M., Stritt, S., Martinez-Corral, I., Ortsäter, H., Vanlandewijck, M., Jakic, B., Baselga, E., Castillo, S.D., Graupera, M., Betsholtz, C., Mäkinen, T., 2023. Immune-interacting lymphatic endothelial subtype at capillary terminals drives lymphatic malformation. J. Exp. Med. 220, e20220741. external page https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20220741

Martinez-Corral, I., Zhang, Y., Petkova, M., Ortsäter, H., Sjöberg, S., Castillo, S.D., Brouillard, P., Libbrecht, L., Saur, D., Graupera, M., Alitalo, K., Boon, L., Vikkula, M., Mäkinen, T., 2020. Blockade of VEGF-C signaling inhibits lymphatic malformations driven by oncogenic PIK3CA mutation. Nat. Commun. 11, 2869. external page https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16496-y

Niaudet, C.*, Petkova, M.*, Jung, B., Lu, S., Laviña, B., Offermanns, S., Brakebusch, C., Betsholtz, C., 2019. Adgrf5 contributes to patterning of the endothelial deep layer in retina. Angiogenesis 22, 491–505. external page https://doi.org/10.1007/s10456-019-09674-0 *Equal contribution

Egaña, I., Kaito, H., Nitzsche, A., Becker, L., Ballester-Lopez, C., Niaudet, C., Petkova, M., Liu, W., Vanlandewijck, M., Vernaleken, A., Klopstock, T., Fuchs, H., Gailus-Durner, V., Hrabe de Angelis, M., Rask-Andersen, H., Johansson, H.J., Lehtiö, J., He, L., Yildirim, A.Ö., Hellström, M., German Mouse Clinic Consortium, 2017. Female mice lacking Pald1 exhibit endothelial cell apoptosis and emphysema. Sci. Rep. 7, 15453. external page https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14894-9

Yordanov, G., Skrobanska, R., Petkova, M., 2016. Poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles stabilised with poloxamer 188: particle size control and cytotoxic effects in cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells. Chem. Pap. 70, 365–374. external page https://doi.org/10.1515/chempap-2015-0220

Evangelatov, A., Skrobanska, R., Mladenov, N., Petkova, M., Yordanov, G., Pankov, R., 2016. Epirubicin loading in poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles manifests via altered intracellular localization and cellular response in cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells. Drug Deliv. 23, 2235–2244. external page https://doi.org/10.3109/10717544.2014.962117