Mesenchymal VEGFA induces aberrant differentiation in heterotopic ossification.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31840004.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41413-019-0075-6 and PMC identifier 6904752.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a debilitating condition characterized by the pathologic formation of ectopic bone. HO occurs commonly following orthopedic surgeries, burns, and neurologic injuries. While surgical excision may provide palliation, the procedure is often burdened with significant intra-operative blood loss due to a more robust contribution of blood supply to the pathologic bone than to native bone. Based on these clinical observations, we set out to examine the role of vascular signaling in HO. Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) has previously been shown to be a crucial pro-angiogenic and pro-osteogenic cue during normal bone development and homeostasis. Our findings, using a validated mouse model of HO, demonstrate that HO lesions are highly vascular, and that VEGFA is critical to ectopic bone formation, despite lacking a contribution of endothelial cells within the developing anlagen.