Pericytes or Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Is That the Question?

Elena Cano; Véronique Gebala; Holger Gerhardt

doi:10.1016/j.stem.2017.02.005

Pericytes or Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Is That the Question?

Cell Stem Cell. 2017 Mar 2;20(3):296-297. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.02.005.

Authors

Elena Cano¹, Véronique Gebala¹, Holger Gerhardt²

Affiliations

¹ Integrative Vascular Biology Laboratory, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany; DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Berlin.
² Integrative Vascular Biology Laboratory, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany; DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Berlin; Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Kapelle-Ufer 2, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Vascular Patterning Laboratory, Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: holger.gerhardt@mdc-berlin.de.

PMID: 28257708
DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.02.005

Abstract

For almost a decade, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were believed to reside as perivascular cells in vivo. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Guimarães-Camboa et al. (2017) challenge this idea and use lineage tracing to demonstrate that perivascular cells do not behave as tissue-specific progenitors in various organs, despite showing MSC potential in vitro.

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MeSH terms

Cell Differentiation
Mesenchymal Stem Cells*
Pericytes*