Discovery of new type of progenitor cell with potential to boost tissue repair

Amazing stuff!

"A newly discovered cell that matures into two specialist cell types – an immune cell responsible for tissue repair and a cell that forms blood vessels – significantly boosts wound healing, according to new research. It could be a game-changer for people suffering from chronic, hard-to-heal wounds. ...
discovered a completely new type of bipotent progenitor cell with the potential to boost healing. ..."

"... the research team says the cells, dubbed ‘EndoMac progenitors’, possess the unique ability to transform into two specific cell types of cells: endothelial cells that form blood vessels, and macrophages that are immune cells responsible for tissue repair and defence. ...

Cells with similar functions have been theorised to exist for more than a century however, until now, had never been found. The were discovered in the outer layer of aortas in adult mice. ...

Ongoing research suggests the EndoMac progenitors could be used to boost healing in conditions like diabetes, where the body struggles to repair itself properly. Crucially, these cells don’t express typical “self” markers, meaning they could be ideal candidates for stem cell transplantation as they’re much less likely to be attacked by the recipient's immune system. ..."

From the abstract:

"Converging evidence indicates that extra-embryonic yolk sac is the source of both macrophages and endothelial cells in adult mouse tissues. Prevailing views are that these embryonically derived cells are maintained after birth by proliferative self-renewal in their differentiated states. Here we identify clonogenic endothelial-macrophage (EndoMac) progenitor cells in the adventitia of embryonic and postnatal mouse aorta, that are independent of Flt3-mediated bone marrow hematopoiesis and derive from an early embryonic CX3CR1+ and CSF1R+ source. These bipotent progenitors are proliferative and vasculogenic, contributing to adventitial neovascularization and formation of perfused blood vessels after transfer into ischemic tissue. We establish a regulatory role for angiotensin II, which enhances their clonogenic and differentiation properties and rapidly stimulates their proliferative expansion in vivo. Our findings demonstrate that embryonically derived EndoMac progenitors participate in local vasculogenic responses in the aortic wall by contributing to the expansion of endothelial cells and macrophages postnatally."

Discovery of new type of cell with potential to boost tissue repair

World-first discovery of new cell type (original news release) "A team of SAHMRI scientists has discovered a completely new type of cell which has the potential to enhance the future of tissue repair and generation."

Discovery of an embryonically derived bipotent population of endothelial-macrophage progenitor cells in postnatal aorta (open access)

Fig. 1: Immunophenotypic characterization of CFU-M progenitors in adult aorta.