Inhibiting endothelial Rhoj blocks pro-fibrotic vascular intussusception and angiocrine factors to sustain lung regeneration

Proliferation of vascular endothelial cells (ECs) is critical for providing sufficient cells lining the neo-vascular lumen. Moreover, expanding ECs need to undergo multiple steps to line new lumen, functionalizing anti-thrombotic and anti-inflammatory interface that prevents extravasation of inflammatory cells, maintains blood perfusion, and facilitates cellular crosstalk. Therefore, productive angiogenesis in regeneration requires formation of endothelial tight junction, arrangement of endothelial apical lumen, and alignment of basolateral side juxtaposed with alveolar epithelial cells. As a result, we used single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to detect the function of diverse EC clusters. Overall design: Endothelial cells of WT mice in the sham operation group and endothelial cells of WT mice and conditional knockout mice on day 7 after PNX were selected for single cell sequencing