Islam Osman1, Liang Wang1,2, Guoqing Hu1, Zeqi Zheng2, Jiliang Zhou1. 1. From the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University (I.O., L.W., G.H., J.Z.). 2. Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi, China (L.W., Z.Z.).
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: While GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) is commonly used as a classical marker for astrocytes in the central nervous system, GFAP-expressing progenitor cells give rise to other cell types during development. The goal of this study was to investigate whether GFAP-expressing progenitor cells contribute to the development of vascular cells in major arteries. Approach and Results: To label GFAP-expressing progenitor cells and their progeny, we crossed GFAP promoter-driven Cre recombinase mice (GFAP-Cre) with transgenic mice expressing the Cre-dependent mTmG dual fluorescent reporter gene. Using this genetic fate-mapping approach, here we demonstrate that GFAP-positive progenitor cells contribute to the development of vascular smooth muscle cells in both neural crest- and non-neural crest-derived vascular beds. In addition, GFAP-positive progenitor cells contribute to a subset of endothelial cells in some vasculature. Furthermore, fate-mapping analyses at multiple time points of mouse development demonstrate a time-dependent increase in the contribution of GFAP-positive progenitors to vascular smooth muscle cells, which mostly occurs in the postnatal period. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells within the same vascular segment are developmentally heterogeneous, where varying proportions of vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells are contributed by GFAP-positive progenitor cells.
OBJECTIVE: While GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) is commonly used as a classical marker for astrocytes in the central nervous system, GFAP-expressing progenitor cells give rise to other cell types during development. The goal of this study was to investigate whether GFAP-expressing progenitor cells contribute to the development of vascular cells in major arteries. Approach and Results: To label GFAP-expressing progenitor cells and their progeny, we crossed GFAP promoter-driven Cre recombinase mice (GFAP-Cre) with transgenic mice expressing the Cre-dependent mTmG dual fluorescent reporter gene. Using this genetic fate-mapping approach, here we demonstrate that GFAP-positive progenitor cells contribute to the development of vascular smooth muscle cells in both neural crest- and non-neural crest-derived vascular beds. In addition, GFAP-positive progenitor cells contribute to a subset of endothelial cells in some vasculature. Furthermore, fate-mapping analyses at multiple time points of mouse development demonstrate a time-dependent increase in the contribution of GFAP-positive progenitors to vascular smooth muscle cells, which mostly occurs in the postnatal period. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells within the same vascular segment are developmentally heterogeneous, where varying proportions of vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells are contributed by GFAP-positive progenitor cells.
Authors: Karen L Waldo; Mary R Hutson; Cary C Ward; Marzena Zdanowicz; Harriett A Stadt; Donna Kumiski; Radwan Abu-Issa; Margaret L Kirby Journal: Dev Biol Date: 2005-05-01 Impact factor: 3.582
Authors: Liu Yang; Youngmi Jung; Alessia Omenetti; Rafal P Witek; Steve Choi; Hendrika M Vandongen; Jiawen Huang; Gianfranco D Alpini; Anna Mae Diehl Journal: Stem Cells Date: 2008-05-29 Impact factor: 6.277
Authors: Nina L Kikel-Coury; Jacob P Brandt; Isabel A Correia; Michael R O'Dea; Dana F DeSantis; Felicity Sterling; Kevin Vaughan; Gulberk Ozcebe; Pinar Zorlutuna; Cody J Smith Journal: PLoS Biol Date: 2021-11-18 Impact factor: 8.029