Discovery of a pre-vein progenitor that requires VEGF/ERK inhibition to complete vein differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Despite substantial insight into mechanisms underlying arterial blood vessel development, multiple aspects of vein development remain elusive, including vein-determining extracellular signals and cell-fate trajectories^1-10. One might expect arteries and veins to arise simultaneously during development, as both are needed for a functional circulatory system. Nevertheless, arteries often precede veins in vivo, as exemplified by the first intraembryonic blood vessels^11-17. Here we present a model of vein differentiation that answers longstanding questions in the field. By reconstituting human vein endothelial cell (EC) differentiation from mesoderm in vitro, we discovered that vein development unfolds in two steps driven by opposing signals. First, VEGF is

SUBMITTER: Ang LT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12632389 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature