(Image: iStock/Mohammed Haneefa Nizamudeen)
Veins in the lungs, or pulmonary veins, play a critical role not only in lung functioning but also in maintaining sufficient oxygen in tissue throughout the body. When a person sustains pulmonary injury from an illness like influenza or COVID, repair of blood vessels and the creation of new ones is vital to meet oxygen demands; however, research in these areas remains underexplored.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Perelman School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have been studying the role of pulmonary venous endothelial cells (VECs) in endothelial regeneration after adult lung injury. VECs line the inside of blood vessels in the lungs, playing an essential role in blood flow and angiogenesis, the creation of new blood vessels.
Their new paper shows that venous endothelial cells can help fix damaged blood vessels in the lungs. The researchers found that following influenza, COVID, and hyperoxia injury, VECs proliferate into the adjacent capillary bed—a network of blood vessels facilitating gas exchange—and contribute to its regeneration.
They also show that VECs differentiate into capillary cells, and that this remodeling is a response to lung injury, not one that occurs during normal lung development after birth. Their findings are published in Nature Cardiovascular Research.
“A lot of patients who encounter respiratory viruses, especially if they’re immunocompromised, can develop something called acute respiratory distress and end up in the intensive care unit,” says first author Joanna Wong, a doctoral student in the lab of Andrew E. Vaughan at Penn Vet. “Trying to figure out ways to promote the regeneration of their vascular bed or lungs in general would advance modern medicine and patient care.”
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