Lingjuan He

Subepicardial endothelial cells invade the embryonic ventricle wall to form coronary arteries

Coronary arteries bring blood flow to the heart muscle. Understanding the developmental program of the coronary arteries provides insights into the treatment of coronary artery diseases. Multiple sources have been described as contributing to coronary arteries including the proepicardium, sinus venosus (SV), and endocardium. However, the developmental origins of coronary vessels are still under intense study. We have produced a new genetic tool for studying coronary development, an AplnCreER mouse line, which expresses an inducible Cre recombinase specifically in developing coronary vessels. Quantitative analysis of coronary development and timed induction of AplnCreER fate tracing showed that the progenies of subepicardial endothelial cells (ECs) both invade the compact myocardium to form coronary arteries and remain on the surface to produce veins. We found that these subepicardial ECs are the major sources of intramyocardial coronary vessels in the developing heart. In vitro explant assays indicate that the majority of these subepicardial ECs arise from endocardium of the SV and atrium, but not from ventricular endocardium. Clonal analysis of Apln-positive cells indicates that a single subepicardial EC contributes equally to both coronary arteries and veins. Collectively, these data suggested that subepicardial ECs are the major source of intramyocardial coronary arteries in the ventricle wall, and that coronary arteries and veins have a common origin in the developing heart.

De Novo Formation of a Distinct Coronary Vascular Population in Neonatal Heart

The heart needs blood vessels, too For the newborn heart to grow quickly, the hearts own blood vessels must grow as well. Researchers have assumed that preexisting fetal coronary vessels expand to cause this postnatal coronary vascular growth. Instead, Tian et al. now show that, for the most part, brandnew blood vessels form within the neonatal heart (see the Perspective by Burns and Burns). This ability to produce new coronary blood vessels after birth may one day help researchers work out how to promote cardiovascular regeneration after injury or disease. Science, this issue p. 90; see also p. 28 Postnatal coronary vessels arise anew in the neonatal mouse heart from the endocardium. [Also see Perspective by Burns and Burns] The postnatal coronary vessels have been viewed as developing through expansion of vessels formed during the fetal period. Using genetic lineage tracing, we found that a substantial portion of postnatal coronary vessels arise de novo in the neonatal mouse heart, rather than expanding from preexisting embryonic vasculature. Our data show that lineage conversion of neonatal endocardial cells during trabecular compaction generates a distinct compartment of the coronary circulation located within the inner half of the ventricular wall. This lineage conversion occurs within a brief period after birth and provides an efficient means of rapidly augmenting the coronary vasculature. This mechanism of postnatal coronary vascular growth provides avenues for understanding and stimulating cardiovascular regeneration following injury and disease.

Yap1 Is Required for Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition of the Atrioventricular Cushion

Background: YAP1 regulates EMT and cell proliferation. Results: Deletion of YAP1 in endocardial cells reduces EMT of endocardial cells, and causes cardiac cushion defect. Conclusion: YAP1 is required for cardiac cushion development. Significance: This is the first in vivo genetic evidence for YAP1 function in EMT. Cardiac malformations due to aberrant development of the atrioventricular (AV) valves are among the most common forms of congenital heart diseases. Normally, heart valve mesenchyme is formed from an endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) of endothelial cells of the endocardial cushions. Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) has been reported to regulate EMT in vitro, in addition to its known role as a major regulator of organ size and cell proliferation in vertebrates, leading us to hypothesize that YAP1 is required for heart valve development. We tested this hypothesis by conditional inactivation of YAP1 in endothelial cells and their derivatives. This resulted in markedly hypocellular endocardial cushions due to impaired formation of heart valve mesenchyme by EMT and to reduced endocardial cell proliferation. In endothelial cells, TGFβ induces nuclear localization of Smad2/3/4 complex, which activates expression of Snail, Twist1, and Slug, key transcription factors required for EMT. YAP1 interacts with this complex, and loss of YAP1 disrupts TGFβ-induced up-regulation of Snail, Twist1, and Slug. Together, our results identify a role of YAP1 in regulating EMT through modulation of TGFβ-Smad signaling and through proliferative activity during cardiac cushion development.

Genetic lineage tracing identifies in situ Kit-expressing cardiomyocytes

Cardiac cells marked by c-Kit or Kit, dubbed cardiac stem cells (CSCs), are in clinical trials to investigate their ability to stimulate cardiac regeneration and repair. These studies were initially motivated by the purported cardiogenic activity of these cells. Recent lineage tracing studies using Kit promoter to drive expression of the inducible Cre recombinase showed that these CSCs had highly limited cardiogenic activity, inadequate to support efficient cardiac repair. Here we reassess the lineage tracing data by investigating the identity of cells immediately after Cre labeling. Our instant lineage tracing approach identifies Kit-expressing cardiomyocytes, which are labeled immediately after tamoxifen induction. In combination with long-term lineage tracing experiments, these data reveal that the large majority of long-term labeled cardiomyocytes are pre-existing Kit-expressing cardiomyocytes rather than cardiomyocytes formed de novo from CSCs. This study presents a new interpretation for the contribution of Kit+ cells to cardiomyocytes and shows that Kit genetic lineage tracing over-estimates the cardiogenic activity of Kit+ CSCs.

Endocardium Minimally Contributes to Coronary Endothelium in the Embryonic Ventricular Free Walls

RATIONALE There is persistent uncertainty regarding the developmental origins of coronary vessels, with 2 principal sources suggested as ventricular endocardium or sinus venosus (SV). These 2 proposed origins implicate fundamentally distinct mechanisms of vessel formation. Resolution of this controversy is critical for deciphering the programs that result in the formation of coronary vessels and has implications for research on therapeutic angiogenesis. OBJECTIVE To resolve the controversy over the developmental origin of coronary vessels. METHODS AND RESULTS We first generated nuclear factor of activated T cells (Nfatc1)-Cre and Nfatc1-Dre lineage tracers for endocardium labeling. We found that Nfatc1 recombinases also label a significant portion of SV endothelial cells in addition to endocardium. Therefore, restricted endocardial lineage tracing requires a specific marker that distinguishes endocardium from SV. By single-cell gene expression analysis, we identified a novel endocardial gene natriuretic peptide receptor 3 (Npr3). Npr3 is expressed in the entirety of the endocardium but not in the SV. Genetic lineage tracing based on Npr3-CreER showed that endocardium contributes to a minority of coronary vessels in the free walls of embryonic heart. Intersectional genetic lineage tracing experiments demonstrated that endocardium minimally contributes to coronary endothelium in the embryonic ventricular free walls. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggested that SV, but not endocardium, is the major origin for coronary endothelium in the embryonic ventricular free walls. This work thus resolves the recent controversy over the developmental origin of coronary endothelium, providing the basis for studying coronary vessel formation and regeneration after injury.

Genetic targeting of sprouting angiogenesis using Apln-CreER

Under pathophysiological conditions in adults, endothelial cells (ECs) sprout from pre-existing blood vessels to form new ones by a process termed angiogenesis. During embryonic development, Apelin (APLN) is robustly expressed in vascular ECs. In adult mice, however, APLN expression in the vasculature is significantly reduced. Here we show that APLN expression is reactivated in adult ECs after ischaemia insults. In models of both injury ischaemia and tumor angiogenesis, we find that Apln-CreER genetically labels sprouting but not quiescent vasculature. By leveraging this specific activity, we demonstrate that abolishment of the VEGF–VEGFR2 signalling pathway as well as ablation of sprouting ECs diminished tumour vascularization and growth without compromising vascular homeostasis in other organs. Collectively, we show that Apln-CreER distinguishes sprouting vessels from stabilized vessels in multiple pathological settings. The Apln-CreER line described here will greatly aid future mechanistic studies in both vascular developmental biology and adult vascular diseases.

c-kit+ cells adopt vascular endothelial but not epithelial cell fates during lung maintenance and repair

Unraveling the fate specification of resident stem cells during lung regeneration is of clinical importance. It has been reported that c-kit+ progenitor cells resident in the human lung regenerate epithelial lineages upon transplantation into injured mouse lung. Here we test the lineage potential of c-kit+ cells by inducible genetic lineage tracing. We find that c-kit+ cells do not contribute to lung epithelium during homeostasis and repair, and instead maintain a vascular endothelial cell fate. These findings call attention to the clinical application of c-kit+ stem cells as lung epithelial progenitors for the treatment of pulmonary disease.

Genetic lineage tracing identifies endocardial origin of liver vasculature

The hepatic vasculature is essential for liver development, homeostasis and regeneration, yet the developmental program of hepatic vessel formation and the embryonic origin of the liver vasculature remain unknown. Here we show in mouse that endocardial cells form a primitive vascular plexus surrounding the liver bud and subsequently contribute to a substantial portion of the liver vasculature. Using intersectional genetics, we demonstrate that the endocardium of the sinus venosus is a source for the hepatic plexus. Inhibition of endocardial angiogenesis results in reduced endocardial contribution to the liver vasculature and defects in liver organogenesis. We conclude that a substantial portion of liver vessels derives from the endocardium and shares a common developmental origin with coronary arteries.

Endocardium Contributes to Cardiac Fat

RATIONALE Unraveling the developmental origin of cardiac fat could offer important implications for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The recent identification of the mesothelial source of epicardial fat tissues reveals a heterogeneous origin of adipocytes in the adult heart. However, the developmental origin of adipocytes inside the heart, namely intramyocardial adipocytes, remains largely unknown. OBJECTIVE To trace the developmental origin of intramyocardial adipocytes. METHODS AND RESULTS In this study, we identified that the majority of intramyocardial adipocytes were restricted to myocardial regions in close proximity to the endocardium. Using a genetic lineage tracing model of endocardial cells, we found that Nfatc1(+) endocardial cells contributed to a substantial number of intramyocardial adipocytes. Despite the capability of the endocardium to generate coronary vascular endothelial cells surrounding the intramyocardial adipocytes, results from our lineage tracing analyses showed that intramyocardial adipocytes were not derived from coronary vessels. Nevertheless, the endocardium of the postnatal heart did not contribute to intramyocardial adipocytes during homeostasis or after myocardial infarction. CONCLUSIONS Our in vivo fate-mapping studies demonstrated that the developing endocardium, but not the vascular endothelial cells, gives rise to intramyocardial adipocytes in the adult heart.

GATA4 regulates Fgf16 to promote heart repair after injury

Although the mammalian heart can regenerate during the neonatal stage, this endogenous regenerative capacity is lost with age. Importantly, replication of cardiomyocytes has been found to be the key mechanism responsible for neonatal cardiac regeneration. Unraveling the transcriptional regulatory network for inducing cardiomyocyte replication will, therefore, be crucial for the development of novel therapies to drive cardiac repair after injury. Here, we investigated whether the key cardiac transcription factor GATA4 is required for neonatal mouse heart regeneration. Using the neonatal mouse heart cryoinjury and apical resection models with an inducible loss of GATA4 specifically in cardiomyocytes, we found severely depressed ventricular function in the Gata4-ablated mice (mutant) after injury. This was accompanied by reduced cardiomyocyte replication. In addition, the mutant hearts displayed impaired coronary angiogenesis and increased hypertrophy and fibrosis after injury. Mechanistically, we found that the paracrine factor FGF16 was significantly reduced in the mutant hearts after injury compared with littermate controls and was directly regulated by GATA4. Cardiac-specific overexpression of FGF16 via adeno-associated virus subtype 9 (AAV9) in the mutant hearts partially rescued the cryoinjury-induced cardiac hypertrophy, promoted cardiomyocyte replication and improved heart function after injury. Altogether, our data demonstrate that GATA4 is required for neonatal heart regeneration through regulation of Fgf16, suggesting that paracrine factors could be of potential use in promoting myocardial repair. Highlighted article: GATA4 and FGF16 are important mediators of cardiomyocyte proliferation and hypertrophy during neonatal heart repair following cryoinjury and apex resection.