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Updated: Feb 7, 2026
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Isolation of Perivascular Multipotent Precursor Cell Populations from Human Cardiac Tissue
Published on: October 8, 2016
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Molecular Programming of Perivascular Stem Cell Precursors.
1Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology (CCRB), Dental Institute, Kings College London, London, SE1 9RT, United Kingdom.
Stem Cells (Dayton, Ohio)
|August 2, 2018
Summary
Pericytes, adult stem cell precursors, show distinct molecular profiles based on tissue origin. This explains why their differentiation potential differs between in vitro expansion and in vivo function.
Area of Science:
- Stem cell biology
- Epigenetics
- Transcriptomics
Background:
- Pericytes serve as adult stem cell precursors in stromal tissues.
- In vitro, pericytes differentiate into multiple mesenchymal types.
- In vivo, pericyte differentiation is restricted to tissue-specific lineages.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the molecular differences between pericytes from different tissues.
- To understand how pericytes acquire tissue-specific stem cell functions.
Main Methods:
- Comparative transcriptomics and epigenomics of pericytes from mouse incisors and bone marrow.
- Utilized a LacZ transgene for pericyte identification.
- Analyzed histone modifications and Polycomb repressor complex 1 (Ring1b) binding.
Main Results:
- Pericytes from incisors and bone marrow exhibit distinct transcriptomes and epigenetic landscapes.
- Dental pulp pericytes express odontogenic genes (e.g., Dspp) with active chromatin marks.
- Bone marrow pericytes show primed osteogenic genes (e.g., Runx2) and repressed adipogenic/chondrogenic/myogenic genes via Ring1b.
Conclusions:
- Tissue of origin significantly shapes pericyte molecular identity and differentiation potential.
- Epigenetic mechanisms, including histone modifications and Polycomb repression, restrict in vivo differentiation pathways.
- Pericyte populations are molecularly pre-programmed for specific tissue-specific differentiation.
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