Affiliation between endothelial and intra-embryonic hematopoietic stem cells]

We have investigated the developmental relationship of the hemopoietic and endothelial lineages in the floor of the chicken aorta, a site of hemopoietic progenitor emergence in the embryo proper. We show that, prior to the onset of hemopoiesis, the aortic endothelium uniformly expresses the endothelium-specific membrane receptor VEGF-R2. The onset of hemopoiesis can be precisely determined by detecting the common leukocyte antigen CD45. VEGF-R2 and CD45 are expressed in complementary fashion, namely the hemopoietic clusters in the floor of the aorta are CD45+/VEGF-R2-, while the rest of the aortic endothelium is CD45-/VEGF-R2+. To determine if the hemopoietic clusters are derived from EC, we tagged the E2 endothelial tree with a non-replicative retroviral vector and low density lipoproteins. Twenty four-48 hours later, labelled cells in the vascular tree were found to be either endothelial or hemopoietic but exceptionally both. Another 1-2 days later, groups of labelled cells appear in the dorsal mesentery within the hemopoietic "paraortic foci". Since no CD45+ cells were inserted among endothelial cells at the time of vascular labelling, hemopoietic clusters and foci must be concluded to derive from precursors with an endothelial phenotype.