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Bone marrow does not contribute substantially to endothelial-cell replacement in transplant arteriosclerosis

Nature Medicine volume 8, pages 194–195 (2002)Cite this article

To the editor

There is increasing evidence that bone marrow (BM)-derived endothelial-cell precursors (ECPs) are involved in postnatal neovascularization1,2,3. However, it is difficult to distinguish such cells from vessel wall–derived endothelial cells, as both cell types display nearly the same set of phenotypic markers3. Therefore, the relative contribution of BM versus vessel wall–derived endothelial cells in vascular repair remains enigmatic. We recently showed that in transplant arteriosclerosis (TA), graft endothelial cells (ECs) have been replaced by host-derived ECs (ref. 4). Although EC replacement after transplantation has been suggested to have a role in graft adaptation5, Lagaaij et al.6 recently showed that EC replacement is actually a response upon vascular damage. Whether such host-derived ECs in TA originate from the BM or from the vascular bed is still unclear.

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Figure 1: Origin of endothelial cells after aortic allografting in BM chimeric rats.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell Biology, Immunology Section Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

    Jan-Luuk Hillebrands, Flip A. Klatter, Wouter D. van Dijk & Jan Rozing

Authors
  1. Jan-Luuk Hillebrands
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  2. Flip A. Klatter
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  3. Wouter D. van Dijk
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  4. Jan Rozing
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Hillebrands, JL., Klatter, F., van Dijk, W. et al. Bone marrow does not contribute substantially to endothelial-cell replacement in transplant arteriosclerosis. Nat Med 8, 194–195 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0302-194

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