Xuran Chu, Vahid Kheirollahi, Arun Lingampally, Prakash Chelladurai, Chanil Valasarajan, Ana Ivonne Vasquez-Armendariz, Stefan Hadzic, Ali Khadim, Oleg Pak, Stefano Rivetti, Jochen Wilhelm, Marek Bartkuhn, Slaven Crnkovic, Alena Moiseenko, Mohika Heiner, Simone Kraut, Leila Sotoodeh, Janine Koepke, Guilherme Valente, Clemens Ruppert, Thomas Braun, Christos SamakovlisIoannis Alexopoulos, MAria Looso, Cho-Mong Chao, Susanne Herold, Werner Seeger, Grazyna Kwapiszewska, Xiaoying Huang, Jin-San Zhang, Soni Savai Pullamsetti, Norbert Weissmann, Xiaokun Li, Elie El Agha, Saverio Bellusci
Universities of Giessen and Marburg and Justus Liebig University. Wenzhou Medical University. Institute for Lung Health. Medical University Graz. Max Planck Institute for Lung and Heart. HELIOS University Medical Center and Witten/Herdecke University. First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University.
Germany, China and Austria
Circulation Research
Circ Res 2024;
DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.123.323736
Abstract
Background: The precise origin of newly formed ACTA2+ (alpha smooth muscle actin-positive) cells appearing in nonmuscularized vessels in the context of pulmonary hypertension is still debatable although it is believed that they predominantly derive from preexisting vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).
Methods: Gli1Cre-ERT2; tdTomatoflox mice were used to lineage trace GLI1+ (glioma-associated oncogene homolog 1-positive) cells in the context of pulmonary hypertension using 2 independent models of vascular remodeling and reverse remodeling: hypoxia and cigarette smoke exposure. Hemodynamic measurements, right ventricular hypertrophy assessment, flow cytometry, and histological analysis of thick lung sections followed by state-of-the-art 3-dimensional reconstruction and quantification using Imaris software were used to investigate the contribution of GLI1+ cells to neomuscularization of the pulmonary vasculature.
Results: The data show that GLI1+ cells are abundant around distal, nonmuscularized vessels during steady state, and this lineage contributes to around 50% of newly formed ACTA2+ cells around these normally nonmuscularized vessels. During reverse remodeling, cells derived from the GLI1+ lineage are largely cleared in parallel to the reversal of muscularization. Partial ablation of GLI1+ cells greatly prevented vascular remodeling in response to hypoxia and attenuated the increase in right ventricular systolic pressure and right heart hypertrophy. Single-cell RNA sequencing on sorted lineage-labeled GLI1+ cells revealed an Acta2high fraction of cells with pathways in cancer and MAPK signaling as potential players in reprogramming these cells during vascular remodeling. Analysis of human lung-derived material suggests that GLI1 signaling is overactivated in both group 1 and group 3 pulmonary hypertension and can promote proliferation and myogenic differentiation.
Conclusions: Our data highlight GLI1+ cells as an alternative cellular source of VSMCs in pulmonary hypertension and suggest that these cells and the associated signaling pathways represent an important therapeutic target for further studies.
Category
Class III. Pulmonary Hypertension Associated with Alveolar Hypoxia
Class I. Drug-induced and Toxin-induced Pulmonary Hypertension
Environmental Factors Associated with Pulmonary Vascular Disease
Animal Models of Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Therapy
Vascular Cell Biology and Mechanisms of Pulmonary Vascular Disease
Pulmonary Vascular Pathology
Age Focus: No Age-Related Focus
Fresh or Filed Publication: Fresh (PHresh). Less than 1-2 years since publication
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