Mesothelial Cells Exhibit Characteristics of Perivascular Cells in an In Vitro Angiogenesis Assay



Koukorava, Chrysa, Ward, Kelly, Ahmed, Katie, Almaghrabi, Shrouq, Dauleh, Sumaya, Pereira, Sofia M, Taylor, Arthur ORCID: 0000-0003-2028-6694, Haddrick, Malcolm, Cross, Michael J ORCID: 0000-0002-5533-1232 and Wilm, Bettina ORCID: 0000-0002-9245-993X
(2023) Mesothelial Cells Exhibit Characteristics of Perivascular Cells in an In Vitro Angiogenesis Assay. Cells, 12 (20). p. 2436.

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Abstract

<jats:p>Mesothelial cells have been shown to have remarkable plasticity towards mesenchymal cell types during development and in disease situations. Here, we have characterized the potential of mesothelial cells to undergo changes toward perivascular cells using an in vitro angiogenesis assay. We demonstrate that GFP-labeled mesothelial cells (GFP-MCs) aligned closely and specifically with endothelial networks formed when human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs) were cultured in the presence of VEGF-A165 on normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs) for a 7-day period. The co-culture with GFP-MCs had a positive effect on branch point formation indicating that the cells supported endothelial tube formation. We interrogated the molecular response of the GFP-MCs to the angiogenic co-culture by qRT-PCR and found that the pericyte marker Ng2 was upregulated when the cells were co-cultured with HDMECs on NHDFs, indicating a change towards a perivascular phenotype. When GFP-MCs were cultured on the NHDF feeder layer, they upregulated the epithelial–mesenchymal transition marker Zeb1 and lost their circularity while increasing their size, indicating a change to a more migratory cell type. We analyzed the pericyte-like behavior of the GFP-MCs in a 3D cardiac microtissue (spheroid) with cardiomyocytes, cardiac fibroblasts and cardiac endothelial cells where the mesothelial cells showed alignment with the endothelial cells. These results indicate that mesothelial cells have the potential to adopt a perivascular phenotype and associate with endothelial cells to potentially support angiogenesis.</jats:p>

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Pericytes, Endothelial Cells, Epithelial Cells, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Humans, Coculture Techniques
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 13 Oct 2023 07:28
Last Modified: 04 Nov 2023 01:24
DOI: 10.3390/cells12202436
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3173672