This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Demer, L. L. Articles by Tintut, Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Demer, L. L. Articles by Tintut, Y. Related Collections Cell biology/structural biology Other arteriosclerosis Smooth muscle proliferation and differentiation Other Vascular biology Related Article

(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2005;25:1307.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorials

Return to Ectopia

Stem Cells in the Artery Wall

Linda L. Demer; Yin Tintut

From the Departments of Medicine (L.L.D., Y.T.), Physiology (L.L.D.), and Bioengineering (L.L.D.), The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Correspondence to Linda L. Demer, MD, PhD, Division of Cardiology, UCLA School of Medicine, Box 951679, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1679. E-mail LDemer@mednet.ucla.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

In this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, Rattazzi and colleagues demonstrate definitively that true cartilage and calcified cartilage tissue develop in the artery wall of the apoE (–/–) mouse.¹ This key observation of neocartilage in a hyperlipidemic mouse provides strong support for the existence and function of vascular stem cells, and raises important questions about the origin of cells that produce ectopic tissue and the regulatory mechanisms determining their lineage identity.

See page 1420

The origin of ectopic vascular tissue remains unknown. Some possibilities include transdifferentiation of mature smooth muscle cells, initial differentiation of immature cells, and/or dedifferentiation of mature cells followed by redifferentiation. It is not known whether the cells arise from the artery wall, perhaps as embryonic remnants, or migrate from the circulation, after release from another tissue, such as the marrow stroma. The spectrum of lineages represented in vascular ectopic tissue is similar to that of marrow stromal cells and mesenchymal stem cells, suggesting that ectopic tissue is a manifestation of adult mesenchymal stem cells. In the past year, 3 groups independently demonstrated multilineage potential in adult vascular cells in vitro and in vivo, including chondrogenic, osteogenic, leiomyogenic, and, in some cases, adipogenic lineages.^2–4 The repertoire of lineages of cells, which is similar to that of marrow stromal cells, and their capacity for self-renewal suggests that they are mesenchymal stem cells. Thus, the neocartilage found in this mouse model may represent aberrant differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells residing in the artery wall.

In humans, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Article:

Calcification of Advanced Atherosclerotic Lesions in the Innominate Arteries of ApoE-Deficient Mice: Potential Role of Chondrocyte-Like Cells

Marcello Rattazzi, Brian J. Bennett, Florian Bea, Elizabeth A. Kirk, Jerry L. Ricks, Mei Speer, Stephen M. Schwartz, Cecilia M. Giachelli, and Michael E. Rosenfeld
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2005 25: 1420-1425. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]