Discovery of a primed endothelial progenitor that requires VEGF/ERK inhibition to complete vein differentiation

Lay Teng Ang; Sherry Li Zheng; Kevin J. Liu; Anastasiia Masaltseva; J. Winters; Sawan Kumar Jha; Qingqing Yin; Crystal Qian; Xiaochen Xiong; Amir Dailamy; Ellie Xi; Juan Alcocer; Daniel W. Sorensen; Richard She; Karina Smolyar; Dorota Szumska; Svanhild Nornes; Renata M. Martin; Benjamin J. Lesch; Nicole K. Restrepo; Wenfei Sun; Jonathan S. Weissman; Heiko Lickert; Matthew Hebden Porteus; Mark A. Skylar‐Scott; Christian Mosimann; Saulius Sumanas; Sarah De Val; Kristy Red‐Horse; Kyle M. Loh

doi:10.1101/2025.10.11.681838

Developmental BiologybioRxivOct 11, 2025

Preprint

Discovery of a primed endothelial progenitor that requires VEGF/ERK inhibition to complete vein differentiation

Lay Teng Ang iD, Sherry Li Zheng iD, Kevin J. Liu iD, Anastasiia Masaltseva iD, J. Winters, Sawan Kumar Jha iD, Qingqing Yin iD, Crystal Qian, Xiaochen Xiong, Amir Dailamy iD, Ellie Xi, Juan Alcocer, Daniel W. Sorensen iD, Richard She iD, Karina Smolyar, Dorota Szumska iD, Svanhild Nornes iD, Renata M. Martin iD, Benjamin J. Lesch iD, Nicole K. Restrepo, Wenfei Sun iD, Jonathan S. Weissman iD, Heiko Lickert iD, Matthew Hebden Porteus iD, Mark A. Skylar‐Scott iD, , Kyle M. Loh iD

Abstract

Extracellular signals and cell-fate trajectories during vein development remain elusive, despite trailblazing insights into artery development. Here we exploit human pluripotent stem cell differentiation and mouse embryology to present a model that answers longstanding questions: vein endothelial cell (EC) differentiation unfolds in two steps driven by opposing extracellular signals. First, VEGF differentiates mesoderm into "primed" ECs, newly-defined progenitors that co-express certain arterial (SOX17) and venous (APLNR) markers. Second, primed ECs execute vein differentiation upon VEGF/ERK inhibition; however, upon VEGF activation they can instead form artery ECs. The arteriovenous plasticity of primed ECs was supported by intersectional lineage tracing. Future venous genes including NR2F2 harbor poised chromatin in primed ECs, but are only transcribed upon VEGF/ERK inhibition. SOXF transcription factors, including SOX17, confer primed ECs with vein differentiation competence. Collectively, this two-step vein differentiation model--entailing primed EC intermediates and VEGF/ERK inhibition to trigger vein differentiation--has implications for VEGF-modulating therapies.

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