Endocardium-to-coronary artery differentiation during heart development and regeneration involves sequential roles of Bmp2 and Cxcl12/Cxcr4.

ABSTRACT: Endocardial cells lining the heart lumen are coronary vessel progenitors during embryogenesis. Re-igniting this developmental process in adults could regenerate blood vessels lost during cardiac injury, but this requires additional knowledge of molecular mechanisms. Here, we use mouse genetics and scRNA-seq to identify regulators of endocardial angiogenesis and precisely assess the role of CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling. Time-specific lineage tracing demonstrated that endocardial cells differentiated into coronary endothelial cells primarily at mid-gestation. A new mouse line reporting CXCR4 activity-along with cell-specific gene deletions-demonstrated it was specifically required for artery morphogenesis rather than angiogenesis. Integrating scRNA-seq data of endocardial-derived coronary vessels

SUBMITTER: D'Amato G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9833645 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature