Not all myofibroblasts are alike: revisiting the role of PDGF-A and PDGF-B using PDGF-targeted mice.
Analyses of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and PDGF-receptor knockout mice show that the development of specific subsets of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) depend on PDGF. Pericytes and mesangial cells failed to develop in PDGF-B deficient embryos, whereas alveolar SMCs failed to develop in PDGF-A deficient embryos. The ontogeny of pericytes and alveolar SMCs suggests a common theme in the formation of PDGF-dependent SMCs, in which PDGF-receptor positive SMC progenitors spread from proximal to distal sites along PDGF-expressing epithelial, or endothelial, tubes.
Lindahl
P
P
Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Göteburg, Sweden.
Betsholtz
C
C
D000818:Animals; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology; D018390:Gene Targeting; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D017479:Receptors, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*
D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; C075278:platelet-derived growth factor A; D017479:Receptors, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor