Commentary 10.1172/JCI95492

The relationship between cardiac endothelium and fibroblasts: it’s complicated

Ravi Karra,1,2 Agoston O. Walter,2 and Sean M. Wu3,4

1Regeneration Next and

2Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

3Cardiovascular Institute and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and

4Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.

Address correspondence to: Ravi Karra, Box 3126, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. Phone: 919.684.2449; Email: ravi.karra@duke.edu. Or to: Sean M. Wu, Room G1120A, Lokey Stem Cell Building, 265 Campus Dr., Stanford, California 94305, USA. Phone: 650.724.4498; Email: smwu@stanford.edu.

Find articles by Karra, R. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

1Regeneration Next and

2Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

3Cardiovascular Institute and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and

4Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.

Address correspondence to: Ravi Karra, Box 3126, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. Phone: 919.684.2449; Email: ravi.karra@duke.edu. Or to: Sean M. Wu, Room G1120A, Lokey Stem Cell Building, 265 Campus Dr., Stanford, California 94305, USA. Phone: 650.724.4498; Email: smwu@stanford.edu.

Find articles by Walter, A. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

1Regeneration Next and

2Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

3Cardiovascular Institute and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and

4Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.

Address correspondence to: Ravi Karra, Box 3126, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. Phone: 919.684.2449; Email: ravi.karra@duke.edu. Or to: Sean M. Wu, Room G1120A, Lokey Stem Cell Building, 265 Campus Dr., Stanford, California 94305, USA. Phone: 650.724.4498; Email: smwu@stanford.edu.

Find articles by Wu, S. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

First published June 26, 2017 - More info

Published in Volume 127, Issue 8 (August 1, 2017)
J Clin Invest. 2017;127(8):2892–2894. doi:10.1172/JCI95492.
Copyright © 2017, American Society for Clinical Investigation

First published June 26, 2017

See the related article at Preexisting endothelial cells mediate cardiac neovascularization after injury.

Coronary revascularization is an effective means of treating ischemic heart disease; however, current therapeutic revascularization strategies are limited to large caliber vessels. Because the mammalian heart scars following cardiac injury, recent work showing that cardiac fibroblasts can transdifferentiate into new coronary endothelium raises a new and exciting approach to promoting endogenous revascularization following cardiac injury. In this issue of the JCI, He et al. report on their employment of a battery of lineage-tracing tools to address the developmental origins of fibroblasts that give rise to new endothelial cells. Surprisingly, cardiac fibroblasts did not appear to contribute appreciably to regeneration of cardiac endothelium. Instead, cardiac endothelial cells were likely to proliferate and generate new endothelium following injury. As these conclusions diverge from prior findings, additional work will be required to understand the sources that generate cardiac endothelium in new blood vessels after injury. Clarification of the origins of coronary endothelial cells during cardiac repair is essential for identifying improved approaches to revascularizing damaged myocardium in patients with ischemic heart disease.

Preview pages

Reset
Page preview
2893 Page 2892 Back

Continue reading with a subscription.

A subscription is required for you to read this article in full. If you are a subscriber, you may sign in to continue reading.

Already subscribed?

Click here to sign into your account.

Don't have a subscription?

Please select one of the subscription options, which includes a low-cost option just for this article.

At an institution or library?

If you are at an institution or library and believe you should have access, please check with your librarian or administrator (more information).

Problems?

Please try these troubleshooting tips.

  • Purchase this article
  • $10
  • Purchasing this article will give you full access for the calendar year.
  • Purchase article
  • Purchase Site Pass
  • $25
  • This will give you access to every article on the site for 24 hours.
  • Order site pass
  • Online subscription
  • $95
  • Individual online subscriptions give you full online access for the calendar year.
  • Order Online
  • Print subscription
  • $795
  • Individual print subscriptions give you the print journal and full online access for the year.
  • Print + Online
  • JCI This Month subscription
  • $125
  • JCI This Month is a 16- to 20-page overview of the articles published each month
  • Subscribing to JCI This Month also gives subscribers full online access for the calendar year.
  • *Price outside U.S. and Canada: $225.
  • JCI This Month + Online
Advertisement