scholarly journals Regenerating vascular mural cells in zebrafish fin blood vessels are not derived from pre-existing ones and differentially require pdgfrb signaling for their development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arndt F Siekmann ◽  
Elvin Vincent Leonard ◽  
Ricardo Figueroa ◽  
Jeroen Bussmann ◽  
Julio D Amigo ◽  
...  

Vascular networks are comprised of endothelial cells and mural cells, which include pericytes and smooth muscle cells. It is well established that new endothelial cells are derived from pre-existing ones during the angiogenic phase of blood vessel growth. By contrast, mural cell ontogeny is less clear with an ongoing debate whether mural cells possess mesenchymal stem cell properties. To elucidate the mechanisms controlling mural cell recruitment during development and tissue regeneration, we studied the formation of zebrafish caudal fin arteries. Mural cells showed morphological heterogeneity: cells colonizing arteries proximal to the body wrapped around them, while those in more distal regions extended protrusions along the proximo-distal vascular axis. Despite these differences, both cell populations expressed platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (Pdgfrb) and the smooth muscle cell marker myosin heavy chain 11a (Myh11a). Loss of Pdgfrb signalling during development or tissue regeneration resulted in a substantial decrease in mural cells at the vascular front, while those proximal to the body were less affected. Using lineage tracing, we demonstrate that precursor cells located in periarterial regions of the caudal fin and expressing Pgdfrb can give rise to mural cells, while in regeneration newly formed mural cells were not derived from pre-existing ones. Together, our findings reveal conserved roles for pdgfrb signalling in development and regeneration, while at the same time illustrating a limited capacity of mural cells to self-renew or contribute to other cell types during tissue regeneration.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger I. Grant ◽  
David A. Hartmann ◽  
Robert G. Underly ◽  
Andrée-Anne Berthiaume ◽  
Narayan R. Bhat ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTSmooth muscle cells and pericytes, together called mural cells, coordinate many distinct vascular functions. Smooth muscle cells are ring-shaped and cover arterioles with circumferential processes, whereas pericytes extend thin processes that run longitudinally along capillaries. In between these canonical mural cell types are cells with mixed phenotype of both smooth muscle cells and pericytes. Recent studies suggest that these transitional cells are critical for controlling blood flow to the capillary bed during health and disease, but there remains confusion on how to identify them and where they are located in the brain microvasculature. To address this issue, we measured the morphology, vascular territory, and α-smooth muscle actin content of structurally diverse mural cells in adult mouse cortex. We first imaged intact 3-D vascular networks to establish the locations of major gradations in mural cell appearance as arterioles branched into capillaries. We then imaged individual mural cells occupying the regions within these gradations. This revealed two transitional cells that were often similar in appearance, but with sharply contrasting levels of α-smooth muscle actin. Our findings highlight the diversity of mural cell morphologies in brain microvasculature, and provide guidance for identification and categorization of mural cell types.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 1260-1266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanako Kobayashi ◽  
Laura M. DeBusk ◽  
Yael O. Babichev ◽  
Daniel J. Dumont ◽  
Pengnian Charles Lin

Abstract Communication between endothelial cells (ECs) and mural cells is critical in vascular maturation. Genetic studies suggest that angiopoietin/Tie2 signaling may play a role in the recruitment of pericytes or smooth muscle cells (SMCs) during vascular maturation. However, the molecular mechanism is unclear. We used microarray technology to analyze genes regulated by angiopoietin-1 (Ang1), an agonist ligand for Tie2, in endothelial cells (ECs). We observed that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a mediator of mural cell motility, was up-regulated by Ang1 stimulation. We confirmed this finding by Northern blot and Western blot analyses in cultured vascular endothelial cells. Furthermore, stimulation of ECs with Ang1 increased SMC migration toward endothelial cells in a coculture assay. Addition of a neutralizing anti-HGF antibody inhibited Ang1-induced SMC recruitment, indicating that the induction of SMC migration by Ang1 was caused by the increase of HGF. Interestingly, Ang2, an antagonist ligand of Tie2, inhibited Ang1-induced HGF production and Ang1-induced SMC migration. Finally, we showed that deletion of Tie2 in transgenic mouse reduced HGF production. Collectively, our data reveal a novel mechanism of Ang/Tie2 signaling in regulating vascular maturation and suggest that a delicate balance between Ang1 and Ang2 is critical in this process.


2011 ◽  
Vol 301 (3) ◽  
pp. H784-H793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohanasundari Pajaniappan ◽  
Nancy K. Glober ◽  
Simone Kennard ◽  
Hua Liu ◽  
Ning Zhao ◽  
...  

Endothelial and mural cell interactions are vitally important for proper formation and function of blood vessels. These two cell types communicate to regulate multiple aspects of vessel function. In studying genes regulated by this interaction, we identified apolipoprotein D (APOD) as one gene that is downregulated in mural cells by coculture with endothelial cells. APOD is a secreted glycoprotein that has been implicated in governing stress response, lipid metabolism, and aging. Moreover, APOD is known to regulate smooth muscle cells and is found in abundance within atherosclerotic lesions. Our data show that the regulation of APOD in mural cells is bimodal. Paracrine secretion by endothelial cells causes partial downregulation of APOD expression. Additionally, cell contact-dependent Notch signaling plays a role. NOTCH3 on mural cells promotes the downregulation of APOD, possibly through interaction with the JAGGED-1 ligand on endothelial cells. Our results show that NOTCH3 contributes to the downregulation of APOD and by itself is sufficient to attenuate APOD transcript expression. In examining the consequence of decreased APOD expression in mural cells, we show that APOD negatively regulates cell adhesion. APOD attenuates adhesion by reducing focal contacts; however, it has no effect on stress fiber formation. These data reveal a novel mechanism in which endothelial cells control neighboring mural cells through the downregulation of APOD, which, in turn, influences mural cell function by modulating adhesion.


Hypertension ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 62 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene E Lin ◽  
Roberto A Gomez ◽  
Maria-Luisa S Sequeira-Lopez

The mechanisms underlying the establishment, assembly and maintenance of the renal blood vessels are poorly understood. We have previously suggested using detailed lineage tracing that renal stromal cells, characterized by their early and transient expression of the transcription factor Foxd1 , give rise to the entirety of the mural cell layer of the renal arterial tree and mesangial cells. Mural cells as defined here exclude endothelial cells, which we identified as having a separate precursor, the renal hemangioblast. To define whether Foxd1 cells are the required essential progenitor or whether their role as such could be assumed by other cell types, we used the cre-lox system to generate mice expressing diphtheria toxin subunit A in Foxd1+ cells ( Foxd1-DTA mice ) which resulted in animals with selective ablation of Foxd1+ cells. Kidneys from Foxd1-DTA embryos had a significantly reduced complement of arterial mural cells, lacking smooth muscle cells, perivascular fibroblasts, renin cells and mesangial cells. Interestingly, the few vessels that remained were also abnormal: they originated underneath the kidney capsule and elongated towards the center of the kidney rather than radiating outward from the center of the kidney. In addition, ablation of Foxd1 cells resulted in significantly delayed nephrogenesis and reduction in glomerular number. In conjunction with our previous data showing a similar phenotype upon global deletion of the Foxd1 ,gene, this illustrates the central role of Foxd1 and the cells that express it during early development. We conclude that Foxd1 stromal cells are the required progenitors for the establishment of the mural cells of the kidney arterioles and (via Foxd1 expression) for the proper origin and orientation of the kidney vessels.


Author(s):  
Linda Alex ◽  
Izabela Tuleta ◽  
Venugopal Harikrishnan ◽  
Nikolaos G. Frangogiannis

Background In the myocardium, pericytes are often confused with other interstitial cell types, such as fibroblasts. The lack of well‐characterized and specific tools for identification, lineage tracing, and conditional targeting of myocardial pericytes has hampered studies on their role in heart disease. In the current study, we characterize and validate specific and reliable strategies for labeling and targeting of cardiac pericytes. Methods and Results Using the neuron‐glial antigen 2 (NG2) DsRed reporter line, we identified a large population of NG2+ periendothelial cells in mouse atria, ventricles, and valves. To examine possible overlap of NG2+ mural cells with fibroblasts, we generated NG2 DsRed ; platelet‐derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) α EGFP pericyte/fibroblast dual reporter mice. Myocardial NG2+ pericytes and PDGFRα+ fibroblasts were identified as nonoverlapping cellular populations with distinct transcriptional signatures. PDGFRα+ fibroblasts expressed high levels of fibrillar collagens, matrix metalloproteinases, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases, and genes encoding matricellular proteins, whereas NG2+ pericytes expressed high levels of Pdgfrb , Adamts1 , and Vtn . To validate the specificity of pericyte Cre drivers, we crossed these lines with PDGFRα EGFP fibroblast reporter mice. The constitutive NG2 Cre driver did not specifically track mural cells, labeling many cardiomyocytes. However, the inducible NG2 CreER driver specifically traced vascular mural cells in the ventricle and in the aorta, without significant labeling of PDGFRα+ fibroblasts. In contrast, the inducible PDGFRβ CreER line labeled not only mural cells but also the majority of cardiac and aortic fibroblasts. Conclusions Fibroblasts and pericytes are topographically and transcriptomically distinct populations of cardiac interstitial cells. The inducible NG2 CreER driver optimally targets cardiac pericytes; in contrast, the inducible PDGFRβ CreER line lacks specificity.


mBio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam L. Vanarsdall ◽  
Sarah R. Pritchard ◽  
Todd W. Wisner ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Ted S. Jardetzky ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) replicates in many diverse cell typesin vivo, and entry into different cells involves distinct entry mechanisms and different envelope glycoproteins. HCMV glycoprotein gB is thought to act as the virus fusogen, apparently after being triggered by different gH/gL proteins that bind distinct cellular receptors or entry mediators. A trimer of gH/gL/gO is required for entry into all cell types, and entry into fibroblasts involves trimer binding to platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα). HCMV entry into biologically relevant epithelial and endothelial cells and monocyte-macrophages also requires a pentamer, gH/gL complexed with UL128, UL130, and UL131, and there is evidence that the pentamer binds unidentified receptors. We screened an epithelial cell cDNA library and identified the cell surface protein CD147, which increased entry of pentamer-expressing HCMV into HeLa cells but not entry of HCMV that lacked the pentamer. A panel of CD147-specific monoclonal antibodies inhibited HCMV entry into epithelial and endothelial cells, but not entry into fibroblasts. shRNA silencing of CD147 in endothelial cells inhibited HCMV entry but not entry into fibroblasts. CD147 colocalized with HCMV particles on cell surfaces and in endosomes. CD147 also promoted cell-cell fusion induced by expression of pentamer and gB in epithelial cells. However, soluble CD147 did not block HCMV entry and trimer and pentamer did not bind directly to CD147, supporting the hypothesis that CD147 acts indirectly through other proteins. CD147 represents the first HCMV entry mediator that specifically functions to promote entry of pentamer-expressing HCMV into epithelial and endothelial cells.IMPORTANCEHuman cytomegalovirus infects nearly 80% of the world’s population and causes significant morbidity and mortality. The current method of treatment involves the use of antiviral agents that are prone to resistance and can be highly toxic to patients; currently, there is no vaccine against HCMV available. HCMV infections involve virus dissemination throughout the body, infecting a wide variety of tissues; however, the mechanism of spread is not well understood, particularly with regard to which cellular proteins are utilized by HCMV to establish infection. This report describes the characterization of a newly identified cellular molecule that affects HCMV entry into epithelial and endothelial cells. These results will lead to a better understanding of HCMV pathogenesis and have implications for the development of future therapeutics.


2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger I Grant ◽  
David A Hartmann ◽  
Robert G Underly ◽  
Andrée-Anne Berthiaume ◽  
Narayan R Bhat ◽  
...  

Smooth muscle cells and pericytes, together called mural cells, coordinate many distinct vascular functions. Canonically, smooth muscle cells are ring-shaped and cover arterioles with circumferential processes, whereas pericytes extend thin processes that run longitudinally along capillaries. In between these canonical mural cell types are cells with features of both smooth muscle cells and pericytes. Recent studies suggest that these transitional cells are critical for controlling blood flow to the capillary bed during health and disease, but there remains confusion on how to identify them and where they are located in the brain microvasculature. To address this issue, we measured the morphology, vascular territory, and α-smooth muscle actin content of structurally diverse mural cells in adult mouse cortex. We first imaged intact 3D vascular networks to establish the locations of major gradations in mural cell appearance as arterioles branched into capillaries. We then imaged individual mural cells occupying the regions within these gradations. This revealed two transitional cells that were often similar in appearance, but with sharply contrasting levels of α-smooth muscle actin. Our findings highlight the diversity of mural cell morphologies in brain microvasculature, and provide guidance for identification and categorization of mural cell types.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenichi Kimura ◽  
Karina Ramirez ◽  
Tram Anh Vu Nguyen ◽  
Yoshito Yamashiro ◽  
Aiko Sada ◽  
...  

AbstractThe maladaptive remodeling of vessel walls with neointima formation is a common feature of proliferative vascular diseases. It has been proposed that neointima formation is caused by the dedifferentiation of mature smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Recent evidence suggests that adventitial cells also participate in neointima formation; however, their cellular dynamics are not fully understood. In this study, we utilized a lineage tracing model of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRa) cells and examined cellular behavior during homeostasis and injury response. PDGFRa marked adventitial cells that were largely positive for Sca1 and a portion of medial SMCs, and both cell types were maintained for 2 years. Upon carotid artery ligation, PDGFRa-positive (+) cells were slowly recruited to the neointima and exhibited an immature SMC phenotype. In contrast, in a more severe wire denudation injury, PDGFRa+ cells were recruited to the neointima within 14 days and fully differentiated into SMCs. Under pressure overload induced by transverse aortic constriction, PDGFRa+ cells developed marked adventitial fibrosis. Taken together, our observations suggest that PDGFRa+ cells serve as a reservoir of adventitial cells and a subset of medial SMCs and underscore their context-dependent response to vascular injuries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan-chi Teng ◽  
Alfredo Leonardo Porfírio-Sousa ◽  
Giulia Magri Ribeiro ◽  
Marcela Corso Arend ◽  
Lindolfo da Silva Meirelles ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) affects millions of people and compromises quality of life. Critical limb ischemia (CLI), which is the most advanced stage of PAD, can cause nonhealing ulcers and strong chronic pain, and it shortens the patients’ life expectancy. Cell-based angiogenic therapies are becoming a real therapeutic approach to treat CLI. Pericytes are cells that surround vascular endothelial cells to reinforce vessel integrity and regulate local blood pressure and metabolism. In the past decade, researchers also found that pericytes may function as stem or progenitor cells in the body, showing the potential to differentiate into several cell types. We investigated the gene expression profiles of pericytes during the early stages of limb ischemia, as well as the alterations in pericyte subpopulations to better understand the behavior of pericytes under ischemic conditions. Methods In this study, we used a hindlimb ischemia model to mimic CLI in C57/BL6 mice and explore the role of pericytes in regeneration. To this end, muscle pericytes were isolated at different time points after the induction of ischemia. The phenotypes and transcriptomic profiles of the pericytes isolated at these discrete time points were assessed using flow cytometry and RNA sequencing. Results Ischemia triggered proliferation and migration and upregulated the expression of myogenesis-related transcripts in pericytes. Furthermore, the transcriptomic analysis also revealed that pericytes induce or upregulate the expression of a number of cytokines with effects on endothelial cells, leukocyte chemoattraction, or the activation of inflammatory cells. Conclusions Our findings provide a database that will improve our understanding of skeletal muscle pericyte biology under ischemic conditions, which may be useful for the development of novel pericyte-based cell and gene therapies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 313 (5) ◽  
pp. L878-L888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuyuki Tsujino ◽  
John T. Li ◽  
Tatsuya Tsukui ◽  
Xin Ren ◽  
Latifa Bakiri ◽  
...  

Mice that globally overexpress the transcription factor Fos-related antigen-2 (Fra-2) develop extensive pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary vascular remodeling. To determine if these phenotypes are a consequence of ectopic Fra-2 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells and myofibroblasts, we generated mice that overexpress Fra-2 specifically in these cell types (α-SMA-rtTA;tetO-Fra-2). Surprisingly, these mice did not develop vascular remodeling or pulmonary fibrosis but did develop a spontaneous emphysema-like phenotype characterized by alveolar enlargement. Secondary septa formation is an important step in the normal development of lung alveoli, and α-smooth muscle actin (SMA)-expressing fibroblasts (myofibroblasts) play a crucial role in this process. The mutant mice showed reduced numbers of secondary septa at postnatal day 7 and enlarged alveolae starting at postnatal day 12, suggesting impairment of secondary septa formation. Lineage tracing using α-SMA-rtTA mice crossed to a floxed TdTomato reporter revealed that embryonic expression of α-SMA Cre marked a population of cells that gave rise to nearly all alveolar myofibroblasts. Comprehensive transcriptome analyses (RNA sequencing) demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of genes whose expression was significantly altered by overexpression of Fra-2 in myofibroblasts encoded secreted proteins, components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and cell adhesion-associated genes, including coordinate upregulation of pairs of integrins and their principal ECM ligands. In addition, primary myofibroblasts isolated from the mutant mice showed reduced migration capacity. These findings suggest that Fra-2 overexpression might impair myofibroblast functions crucial for secondary septation, such as myofibroblast migration across alveoli, by perturbing interactions between integrins and locally produced components of the ECM.


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