CD45 is sufficient to initiate EndMT in human endothelial cells

Bulk RNA-Seq revealed that activation of the endogenous CD45 promoter induced expression of several genes implicated in EndMT. CD45-positive endothelial cells showed significantly increased migration, a hallmark of EndMT, increased collagen gel contraction, a hallmark of mesenchymal cells, and decreased cell-cell barrier integrity, indicating reduced endothelial function. We activated the endogenous CD45 promoter in human endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) using a CRISPR/inactive Cas9 transcriptional activation system. Bulk RNA-Seq was carried out on control ECFCs and CD45-positive ECFCs (5 biological replicates for each) to identify transcriptomic changes.