Cell lineages and tissue boundaries in cardiac arterial and venous poles - Developmental patterns, animal models, and implications for congenital vascular diseases

Multiple cell populations with different embryological histories are involved in the morphogenesis of the cardiac arterial and venous poles as well as in the correct alignment and connection of the developing vessels with the cardiac chambers. Formation of the aorta and the pulmonary trunk is a complicated process orchestrated via a specific sequence of highly integrated spatiotemporal events of cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, and apoptosis. The peculiar susceptibility of this intricate cell network to be altered explains the frequency of congenital cardiovascular diseases of the arterial and venous poles. We review this topic from the "vascular point of view," putting major emphasis on (1) the existence of different cell lineages from which smooth muscle cells of the aorticopulmonary trunk can be derived, (2) the establishment of cell/tissue boundaries in the cardiovascular connecting regions, and (3) the animal models that can mimic human congenital defects of the arterial and venous poles of the heart.