Anatomical structures, cell types, and biomarkers of the healthy human blood vasculature

Abstract

More than 150 scientists from 17 consortia are collaborating on an international project to build a Human Reference Atlas, which maps all 37 trillion cells in the healthy adult human body. The initial release of this atlas provided hierarchical lists of the anatomical structures, cell types, and biomarkers in 11 organs. Here, we describe the methods we used as part of this initiative to build the first open, computer-readable, and comprehensive database of the adult human blood vasculature, called the Human Reference Atlas-Vasculature Common Coordinate Framework (HRA-VCCF). It includes 961 vessels and their branching connections, 10 cell types, and 10 biomarkers. With this paper we are releasing additional details on vessel types and subtypes, branching sequence, anastomoses, portal systems, microvasculature, functional tissue units, mappings to regions vessels supply or drain, and links to 3D reference objects. Future versions will add variants, geometric properties of vessels, and connections to the lymph vasculature; and, it will iteratively expand and improve the database as additional experimental data become available through the participating consortia.