Lymphatic endothelial cells contribute to blood vessel formation in tumours

Using multicolor lineage tracing, in vivo time-lapse imaging and single cell transcriptional profiling in a mouse glioma model, we identify tumour blood endothelial cells carrying a Csf1r lineage trace. These Csf1r lineage endothelial cells (CLECs) form up to 10% of the tumour vasculature and express endothelial cell markers as well as a unique set of genes that can also be found in single cell transcriptome data of tumour endothelium from various human tumours. Overall design: The transcriptomes of 768 single cells were sequenced (scRNAseq) after FACS sorting.