Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Basic research

Where do new endothelial cells come from in the injured heart?

Revascularization of ischaemia-injured myocardium is critical for functional recovery. A new study shows that endothelial cells of neovessels in the injured heart derive from pre-existing endothelial cells. This new finding focuses research on therapeutic strategies to direct the neovasculature to deliver oxygen and nutrients effectively to the ischaemic myocardium.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Myocardial neovascularization and repair.

References

  1. He, L. et al. Preexisting endothelial cells mediate cardiac neovascularization after injury. J. Clin. Invest. http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/JCI93868 (2017).

  2. Das, S. & Red-Horse, K. Cellular plasticity in cardiovascular development and disease. Dev. Dyn. 246, 328–335 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Tian, X. et al. Vessel formation. De novo formation of a distinct coronary vascular population in neonatal heart. Science 345, 90–94 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Chen, H. I. et al. The sinus venosus contributes to coronary vasculature through VEGFC-stimulated angiogenesis. Development 141, 4500–4512 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Aghajanian, H. et al. Coronary vasculature patterning requires a novel endothelial ErbB2 holoreceptor. Nat. Commun. 7, 12038 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Ubil, E. et al. Mesenchymal–endothelial transition contributes to cardiac neovascularization. Nature 514, 585–590 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Pinto, A. R. et al. Revisiting cardiac cellular composition. Circ. Res. 118, 400–409 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Bergmann, O. et al. Dynamics of cell generation and turnover in the human heart. Cell 161, 1566–1575 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Zeisberg, E. M. et al. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition contributes to cardiac fibrosis. Nat. Med. 13, 952–961 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Simons, M. & Eichmann, A. Molecular controls of arterial morphogenesis. Circ. Res. 116, 1712–1724 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding from March of Dimes (Gene Discovery & Translational Grant, 6-FY15-223 to D.M.G.) and NIH (R01HL125815 and R01HL133016 to D.M.G.; R01 EY025979-01 and R01HLI125811 to A.E.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Daniel M. Greif or Anne Eichmann.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Greif, D., Eichmann, A. Where do new endothelial cells come from in the injured heart?. Nat Rev Cardiol 14, 507–508 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2017.121

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2017.121

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing