近日，以色列魏茨曼科学研究所Karina Yaniv、Rudra N. Das等研究人员合作发现，淋巴管转分化可产生专门的血管。相关论文于2022年5月25日在线发表在《自然》杂志上。
研究人员利用斑马鱼臀鳍的循环成像和系谱追踪，从早期发育到成年，发现了一种通过淋巴管内皮细胞（LECs）的转分化形成专门血管的机制。此外，研究人员证明了从淋巴与血液内皮细胞（EC）衍生出的臀鳍血管在成年生物体中的功能差异，揭示了细胞本体和功能之间的联系。研究人员进一步利用单细胞RNA测序分析来描述了转分化过程中涉及的不同细胞群和过渡状态。
最后，结果表明，与正常发育相似，在臀鳍再生过程中，血管从淋巴管中重新衍生出来，表明成年鱼的LEC保留了生成血液EC的效力和可塑性。总的来说，这项研究强调了通过LEC转分化形成血管的先天机制，并为EC的细胞个体发生和功能之间的联系提供了体内证据。
据了解，细胞的谱系和发育轨迹是决定细胞身份的关键因素。在血管系统中，血液和淋巴管的EC通过分化和特化来满足每个器官的独特生理需求。虽然淋巴管被证明来自多种细胞来源，但LEC不知道会产生其他细胞类型。
附：英文原文
Title: Generation of specialized blood vessels via lymphatic transdifferentiation
Author: Das, Rudra N., Tevet, Yaara, Safriel, Stav, Han, Yanchao, Moshe, Noga, Lambiase, Giuseppina, Bassi, Ivan, Nicenboim, Julian, Brckner, Matthias, Hirsch, Dana, Eilam-Altstadter, Raya, Herzog, Wiebke, Avraham, Roi, Poss, Kenneth D., Yaniv, Karina
Issue&Volume: 2022-05-25
Abstract: The lineage and developmental trajectory of a cell are key determinants of cellular identity. In the vascular system, endothelial cells (ECs) of blood and lymphatic vessels differentiate and specialize to cater to the unique physiological demands of each organ1,2. Although lymphatic vessels were shown to derive from multiple cellular origins, lymphatic ECs (LECs) are not known to generate other cell types3,4. Here we use recurrent imaging and lineage-tracing of ECs in zebrafish anal fins, from early development to adulthood, to uncover a mechanism of specialized blood vessel formation through the transdifferentiation of LECs. Moreover, we demonstrate that deriving anal-fin vessels from lymphatic versus blood ECs results in functional differences in the adult organism, uncovering a link between cell ontogeny and functionality. We further use single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis to characterize the different cellular populations and transition states involved in the transdifferentiation process. Finally, we show that, similar to normal development, the vasculature is rederived from lymphatics during anal-fin regeneration, demonstrating that LECs in adult fish retain both potency and plasticity for generating blood ECs. Overall, our research highlights an innate mechanism of blood vessel formation through LEC transdifferentiation, and provides in vivo evidence for a link between cell ontogeny and functionality in ECs.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04766-2
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04766-2
Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html
本期文章：《自然》：Online/在线发表
