| First Author | Cavallero S | Year | 2015 |
| Journal | Dev Cell | Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 469-77 |
| PubMed ID | 26017771 | Mgi Jnum | J:239363 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5828370 | Doi | 10.1016/j.devcel.2015.03.018 |
| Citation | Cavallero S, et al. (2015) CXCL12 Signaling Is Essential for Maturation of the Ventricular Coronary Endothelial Plexus and Establishment of Functional Coronary Circulation. Dev Cell 33(4):469-77 |
| abstractText | Maturation of a vascular plexus is a critical and yet incompletely understood process in organ development, and known maturation factors act universally in all vascular beds. In this study, we show that CXCL12 is an organ-specific maturation factor of particular relevance in coronary arterial vasculature. In vitro, CXCL12 does not influence nascent vessel formation, but promotes higher-order complexity of preinitiated vessels. In the heart, CXCL12 is expressed principally by the epicardium, and its receptor CXCR4 is expressed by coronary endothelial cells. CXCL12 is not a chemotactic signal for endothelial cell migration, but rather acts in a paracrine manner to influence the maturation of the coronary vascular plexus. Mutants in CXCL12 signaling show an excess of immature capillary chains and a selective failure in arterial maturation, and become leaky with the onset of coronary perfusion. Failed maturation of the coronary system explains the late-gestation lethality of these mutants. |
