Beschreibung:
The vascular system is critical infrastructure that transports oxygen and nutrients aroundthe body, and dynamically adapts its function to an array of environmental changes. To fulfil thedemands of diverse organs, each with unique functions and requirements, the vascular systemdisplays vast regional heterogeneity as well as specialized cell types. Our understanding of theheterogeneity of vascular cells and the molecular mechanisms that regulate their function is beginningto benefit greatly from the rapid development of single cell technologies. Recent studies have startedto analyze and map vascular beds in a range of organs in healthy and diseased states at singlecell resolution. The current review focuses on recent biological insights on the vascular systemgarnered from single cell analyses. We cover the themes of vascular heterogeneity, phenotypicplasticity of vascular cells in pathologies such as atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, as wellas the contribution of defective microvasculature to the development of neurodegenerative disorderssuch as Alzheimer’s disease. Further adaptation of single cell technologies to study the vascularsystem will be pivotal in uncovering the mechanisms that drive the array of diseases underpinned byvascular dysfunction.