Direct specification of lymphatic endothelium from mesenchymal progenitors.

ABSTRACT: During embryogenesis, endothelial cells (ECs) are generally described to arise from a common pool of progenitors termed angioblasts, which diversify through iterative steps of differentiation to form functionally distinct subtypes of ECs. A key example is the formation of lymphatic ECs (LECs), which are thought to arise largely through transdifferentiation from venous endothelium. Opposing this model, here we show that the initial expansion of mammalian LECs is primarily driven by the in situ differentiation of mesenchymal progenitors and does not require transition through an intermediate venous state. Single-cell genomics and lineage-tracing experiments revealed a population of paraxial mesoderm-derived Etv2⁺Prox1⁺ progenitors that directly give rise to LECs. Morpho

SUBMITTER: Lupu IE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11738995 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature