Biology subjects

Sorensen, D. W.

Publications and source records attributed to Sorensen, D. W..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

A human arteriovenous differentiation roadmap reveals vein developmental mechanisms and vascular effects of viruses

Extracellular signals and cell-fate trajectories during vein development remain elusive, despite trailblazing insights into artery development. Here we exploit human pluripotent stem cell differentiation and mouse embryology to present a model that answers longstanding questions: vein endothelial cell (EC) differentiation unfolds in two steps driven by opposing extracellular signals. First, VEGF differentiates mesoderm into "primed" ECs, newly-defined progenitors that co-express certain arterial (SOX17) and venous (APLNR) markers. Second, primed ECs execute vein differentiation upon VEGF/ERK inhibition; however, upon VEGF activation they can instead form artery ECs. The arteriovenous plasticity of primed ECs was supported by intersectional lineage tracing. Future venous genes including NR2F2 harbor poised chromatin in primed ECs, but are only transcribed upon VEGF/ERK inhibition. SOXF transcription factors, including SOX17, confer primed ECs with vein differentiation competence. Collectively, this two-step vein differentiation model--entailing primed EC intermediates and VEGF/ERK inhibition to trigger vein differentiation--has implications for VEGF-modulating therapies.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Myocardial Endoglin Regulates Cardiomyocyte Proliferation and Cardiac Regeneration

The mammalian heart loses almost all its regenerative potential in the first week of life due to the cessation of the ability of cardiomyocytes to proliferate. In recent years, a number of regulators of cardiomyocyte proliferation have been identified. Despite this, a clear understanding of the regulatory pathways that control cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac regeneration is lacking, and there are likely additional regulators to be discovered. Here, we performed a genome-wide screen on fetal murine cardiomyocytes to identify potential novel regulators of cardiomyocyte proliferation. Endoglin was identified as an inhibitor of cardiomyocyte proliferation in vitro. Endoglin knock-down resulted in enhanced DNA synthesis, cardiomyocyte mitosis and cytokinesis in mouse, rat and human cardiomyocytes. Using gene-targeted mice, we confirmed myocardial Endoglin to be important in cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac regeneration using gene-targeted mice. Mechanistically, we show that Smad signaling is required for the endoglin-mediated anti-proliferative effects. Our results identify the TGF-{beta} coreceptor Endoglin as a regulator of cardiac regeneration and cardiomyocyte proliferation. SummaryHigh-content function screening is used to identify a novel inhibitor of cardiomyocyte proliferation which can promote mammalian cardiac regeneration.

genetics↗