The molecular basis of endothelial cell plasticity

The endothelium is capable of remarkable plasticity. In the embryo, primitive endothelial cells differentiate to acquire arterial, venous or lymphatic fates. Certain endothelial cells also undergo hematopoietic transition giving rise to multi-lineage hematopoietic stem and progenitors while others a...

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Published inNature communications Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 14361 - 11
Main Authors Dejana, Elisabetta, Hirschi, Karen K., Simons, Michael
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 09.02.2017
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
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Animals
Cell Lineage
Cell Plasticity
Embryonic Development
Endothelial Cells - cytology
Endothelium
Genetic engineering
Homeostasis
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Internal medicine
multidisciplinary
Oncology
Review
review-article
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Signal Transduction
Smooth muscle
Specialization
Stem cells
Vascular endothelial growth factor
United States > US
Italy
Connecticut
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Summary:The endothelium is capable of remarkable plasticity. In the embryo, primitive endothelial cells differentiate to acquire arterial, venous or lymphatic fates. Certain endothelial cells also undergo hematopoietic transition giving rise to multi-lineage hematopoietic stem and progenitors while others acquire mesenchymal properties necessary for heart development. In the adult, maintenance of differentiated endothelial state is an active process requiring constant signalling input. The failure to do so leads to the development of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition that plays an important role in pathogenesis of a number of diseases. A better understanding of these phenotypic changes may lead to development of new therapeutic interventions. Vascular endothelium possesses remarkable plasticity in response to cues from its surroundings, leading to great heterogeneity of endothelial cells in different vascular beds. Here the authors explain the molecular basis of endothelial plasticity during embryogenesis and in various diseases.
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These authors contributed equally to this work
On leave of absence from Department of Oncology and Onco-Haematology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms14361