The Roles of Perivascular Stem Cells in Tissue Fibrosis and Injury Repair

LI Shiyuan^1,2, ZHOU Min^2
*, DING Lijun^1,3*

(¹ Center for Reproductive Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, China; ²Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, China; ³Center for Clinical Stem Cell Research, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, China)

Abstract:

Perivascular cells, including pericytes adjacent to vascular endothelial cells in microvessels, and adventitial cells residing in the outermost layer of large blood vessels, dominate angiogenesis and regulate vascular homeostasis in physiological states. In pathological conditions such as tissue injury and inflammation, perivascular cells leave the perivascular niche, rapidly proliferate and transdifferentiate into myofibroblasts, which are one of the important reasons for the formation of tissue fibrosis and scarring lesions. Besides, perivascular cells present typical mesenchymal stem cell phenotypes, which are the main source of in vivo and ex vivo mesenchymal stem cells, and can effectively promote tissue repair and reconstruction by transplantation or delivery to the injury sites. This review summarizes the characteristics of perivascular stem cells and their multiple roles in physiology, pathology and disease treatments, in order to provide novel insights into deciphering the mechanisms of tissue hemostasis and the functional reconstruction of injured tissue.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2023.08.0012