Pulmonary Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells (PCP)

The developmental origins of the smooth muscle (SM) pericytes surrounding the larger blood vessels in the lung are poorly understood. The current model suggests that undifferentiated mesoderm cells surrounding the developing vascular endothelial plexus differentiate into vascular SM cells, in response to a combination of paracrinic cues from endothelial, epithelial, and mesothelial cells. However, there is no genetic cell lineage mapping data to support this model.