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Pericytes have been implicated in tissue repair, remodeling, and fibrosis. Although the mammalian heart contains abundant pericytes, their fate and involvement in myocardial disease remains unknown.

We used NG2^Dsred;PDGFRα^EGFP pericyte:fibroblast dual reporter mice and inducible NG2^CreER mice to study the fate and phenotypic modulation of pericytes in myocardial infarction. The transcriptomic profile of pericyte-derived cells was studied using polymerase chain reaction arrays and single-cell RNA sequencing. The role of transforming growth factor–β (TGF-β) signaling in regulation of pericyte phenotype was investigated in vivo using pericyte-specific TGF-β receptor 2 knockout mice and in vitro using cultured human placental pericytes.

In normal hearts, neuron/glial antigen 2 (NG2) and platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRα) identified distinct …