Fig. 5: Organ-specific signaling between ECs and mural cells.

a, LR interactions in VEGFA and RA signaling between ECs and mural cells in arteries. The y axis shows specific LR pairs. Dot size and color represent scaled average gene expression, with red circles indicating significant interactions (P < 0.05) as calculated using CellPhoneDB. b,c, Dot plot showing gene expression of LRs involved in the VEGFA (b) and RA (c) pathway, and schematics summarizing cell–cell interactions. d, LR interactions in the WNT pathway between ECs and mural cells in microvasculature. y axis shows specific LR pairs. Dot size and color represent scaled average gene expression, with red circles for significant interactions (P < 0.05) as calculated using CellPhoneDB. e, Dot plot showing gene expression of LRs involved in WNT signaling and schematic summarizing cell–cell interactions. f, LR interactions in the prostaglandin (PTG) signaling pathway between ECs and mural cells in microvasculature. The y axis shows specific LR pairs. Dot size and color represent scaled average gene expression, with red circles for significant interactions (P < 0.05) as calculated using CellPhoneDB. PTGES, prostaglandin E synthase. g, Dot plot of LR gene expression and schematic of PTG intercellular signaling. PGH2, prostaglandin H2. The illustrations in a–g were created with BioRender.