Vascular endothelial cell (EC) function depends on appropriate organ-specific molecular and cellular specializations. To explore genomic mechanisms that control this specialization, we have analyzed and compared the transcriptome, accessible chromatin, and DNA methylome landscapes from mouse brain, liver, lung, and kidney ECs. Analysis of transcription factor (TF) motifs at candidate cis-regulatory elements together with TF gene expression reveals both shared and organ-specific EC TFs. In the embryo, only those ECs that are adjacent to or within the developing CNS exhibit canonical Wnt signaling, which correlates precisely with blood-brain barrier (BBB) differentiation and Zic3 expression. In acutely cultured brain ECs, the rapid loss of BBB markers is closely correlated with down-regulation of canonical Wnt signaling. In the early postnatal brain, single cell RNA-seq of purified ECs reveals close relationships between veins and mitotic cells and between arteries and tip cells, and a division of capillary ECs into vein-like and artery-like classes. SOURCE: Mark,F,Sabbagh (msabbag2@jhmi.edu) - Jeremy Nathans Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE111839: Transcriptional and Epigenomic Landscapes of CNS and non-CNS Vascular Endothelial Cells