Elucidating the organ-specific lymphatic vessel development

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K17072
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 53020:Cardiology-related
• Research Institution: Mie University (2021-2022); The University of Tokyo (2020)
• Principal Investigator: Maruyama Kazuaki 三重大学, 医学系研究科, 助教 (90821984)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: リンパ管 / 血管 / 心臓 / 発生学 / ヒト疾患 / 心臓・血管病理 / 疾患モデル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Lymphatic endothelial cells were once believed to originate solely through sprouting from venous endothelial cells . However, recent research has revealed that 50-60% of cardiac lymphatic vessels actually form through the differentiation of undifferentiated mesoderm cells(Dev Biol, 2019; iScience, 2021). These cells express the transcription factor Islet1, a key component of cardiac development. The origin of these cardiac lymphatic vessels has now been identified as the cardiac pharyngeal mesoderm (CPM). This region was later distinguished as the source of head and neck muscles as well as myocardium (Maruyama et al., eLife, 2022).

Free Research Field

リンパ学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により尾索動物以降に存在するとされるCPMが脈管形成へも広く寄与することが明らかとなった。さらに、難治性疾患であるヒト脈管奇形は頭頸部に多く生じることが知られていたが、体幹部と頭頸部で細胞起源が異なることが明らかとなったことで、脈管奇形の好発部位の説明が可能となる可能性がある。今後ヒト遺伝子変異を導入したマウスモデルを作成し、ヒト疾患のモデルマウス作成へと研究を深化させていきたいと考える。