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Updated: Oct 7, 2025

Analysis of Coronary Vessels in Cleared Embryonic Hearts
Published on: December 7, 2016
Extension of Endocardium-Derived Vessels Generate Coronary Arteries in Neonates
Juan Tang1, Huan Zhu1, Xueying Tian2
1The State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (J.T., H.Z., H.W., K.L., H.Z., L.H., X.H., B.Z.), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Background:
Unraveling how new coronary arteries develop may provide critical information for establishing novel therapeutic approaches to treating ischemic cardiac diseases. There are 2 distinct coronary vascular populations derived from different origins in the developing heart. Understanding the formation of coronary arteries may provide insights into new ways of promoting coronary artery formation after myocardial infarction.
Methods:
To understand how intramyocardial coronary arteries are generated to connect these 2 coronary vascular populations, we combined genetic lineage tracing, light sheet microscopy, fluorescence micro-optical sectioning tomography, and tissue-specific gene knockout approaches to understand their cellular and molecular mechanisms.
Results:
We show that a subset of intramyocardial coronary arteries form by angiogenic extension of endocardium-derived vascular tunnels in the neonatal heart. Three-dimensional whole-mount fluorescence imaging showed that these endocardium-derived vascular tunnels or tubes adopt an arterial fate in neonates. Mechanistically, we implicate Mettl3 (methyltransferase-like protein 3) and Notch signaling in regulating endocardium-derived intramyocardial coronary artery formation. Functionally, these intramyocardial arteries persist into adulthood and play a protective role after myocardial infarction.
Conclusions:
A subset of intramyocardial coronary arteries form by extension of endocardium-derived vascular tunnels in the neonatal heart.
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