Mitochondrial Transfer to Endothelial Cells: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Therapeutic Potential | Circulation Research Mitochondria are increasingly recognized as central regulators of vascular health, shaping endothelial cell function through roles that extend far beyond energy production. In addition to coordinating redox balance, calcium dynamics, and biosynthetic support, recent studies have revealed that mitochondria participate in intercellular communication, with evidence of transfer events emerging in vascular contexts. Parallel efforts have advanced the deliberate delivery of exogenous mitochondria from preclinical proof-of-principle studies to first-in-human trials, demonstrating that freshly isolated organelles can be harvested and administered in real-time to critically ill patients with favorable early outcomes. The mechanisms underlying these benefits remain incompletely defined, and strategies for efficient and scalable delivery are still emerging. In this review, we prioritize recent evidence linking mitochondrial function to endothelial cell physiology, highlight the nascent but growing field of mitochondrial transfer in the vasculature, and examine how mitochondrial transplantation is evolving from experimental concept to clinical translation. Together, these advances point to new therapeutic avenues for preserving vascular integrity and treating disease. Graphical Abstract

Excited to share our latest review out today in @CircRes ! We discuss mitochondrial transfer to endothelial cells—covering mechanisms, emerging evidence, and therapeutic potential. Great work by Gwang-Bum Im in leading this effort!
www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/...
#Mitochondria

The new @stemcellpodcast.com episode is out! It was a real pleasure to speak with Drs. Daylon James & Arun Sharma about vascular organoids, stem cell engraftment, and our lab’s work. Thanks for the thoughtful questions and for spotlighting our research!

Human Bone‐Derived Endothelial Cells Mediate Bone Regeneration via Distinct Expression of KIT Ligand Bone-specific endothelial cells (b-ECs) uniquely express KITLG, which recruits c-Kit+/CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors (HPCs) to the osteovascular niche, initiating a cascade that culminates in the os...

Our new Advanced Science paper is out! We show that human bone-derived endothelial cells drive bone regeneration via KIT ligand expression, revealing a vascular niche role in skeletal repair.
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#BoneRegeneration #KITLG #EndothelialCells

Rapid generation of functional vascular organoids via simultaneous transcription factor activation of endothelial and mural lineages Vascular organoids (VOs) are valuable tools for studying vascular development, disease, and regenerative medicine. However, controlling endothelial an…

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Rapid generation of functional vascular organoids via simultaneous transcription factor activation of endothelial and mural lineages

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Pioneer factor ETV2 safeguards endothelial cell specification by recruiting the repressor REST to restrict alternative lineage commitment - Nature Cardiovascular Research Chen et al. employ multiple approaches to show that ETV2 recruits the transcriptional repressor REST, facilitating mesoderm-to-endothelial cell specification, while simultaneously preventing iPS cell-...

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Pioneer factor ETV2 safeguards endothelial cell specification by recruiting the repressor REST to restrict alternative lineage commitment

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Rapid generation of functional vascular organoids via simultaneous transcription factor activation of endothelial and mural lineages Melero-Martin and colleagues developed a rapid method to generate vascular organoids from human iPSCs by orthogonally activating the transcription factors ETV2 and NKX3.1. This strategy enabled contro...

Vascular organoids promote revascularization of ischemic muscle and pancreatic islet transplantation in mice www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... #NBThighlight

Rapid generation of functional vascular organoids via simultaneous transcription factor activation of endothelial and mural lineages Melero-Martin and colleagues developed a rapid method to generate vascular organoids from human iPSCs by orthogonally activating the transcription factors ETV2 and NKX3.1. This strategy enabled contro...

Our latest paper is out in Cell Stem Cell! We show how co-activation of ETV2 and NKX3.1 in iPSCs generates vascular organoids with functional microvasculature. A powerful platform for vascular therapies. @bostonchildrens.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social ss.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce...

Pioneer factor ETV2 safeguards endothelial cell specification by recruiting the repressor REST to restrict alternative lineage commitment - Nature Cardiovascular Research Chen et al. employ multiple approaches to show that ETV2 recruits the transcriptional repressor REST, facilitating mesoderm-to-endothelial cell specification, while simultaneously preventing iPS cell-...

New in ‪@natcardiovascres.nature.com‬. ETV2 guides endothelial cell fate by recruiting REST to repress alternative lineages. This paper offers new insights into EC specification using single-cell multi-omics. Glad to have contributed!
#ETV2 #endothelialcells #stemcells
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Mitochondrial transfer in endothelial cells and vascular health Mitochondria play a vital role in cellular energy metabolism and vascular health, with their function directly influencing endothelial cell (EC) bioenergetics and integrity. Mitochondrial transfer has...

Excited to share our new review, now online at Trends in Cell Biology! We discuss mitochondrial transfer in endothelial cells and its role in vascular health. Big shoutout to first author Gwang-Bum Im for putting this together! @cellpress.bsky.social

www.cell.com/trends/cell-...

Exciting new work from the Bischoff Lab just out in @jclinical-invest.bsky.social - They reveal how the endothelial SOX18–mevalonate pathway axis opens the door to repurposing statins for treating infantile hemangioma.
www.jci.org/articles/vie...
Editor’s Note: www.jci.org/articles/vie...

Boston #standupforscience

Time flies! This week, we say goodbye to Hyunjung (Emily) Kim, a visiting graduate student from Seoul National University. Emily, it’s been fantastic having you @bostonchildrens.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social —your energy and hard work will be missed. Wishing you all the best back in Korea!

Although it's only January, slots are filling up quickly for #GRC_Angiogenesis! If you love blood vessels and wanna dig into their interactions with their neighbors, Newport is the place to be this summer! We will soon start selecting abstracts for short talks! Don't wait, apply today. Link 👇

Thanks Sara, Michael Sefton, and Cristina Nostro for hosting me @medicinebydesign.bluesky. I had a terrific time and enjoyed learning the amazing work you guys are doing here

Excited to speak at the @medicinebydesign.bsky.social Global Speaker Series on Jan 21! I'll be sharing recent work from @bostonchildrens.bsky.social & @harvardmed.bsky.social. Looking forward to great discussions & meeting amazing faculty!
mbd.utoronto.ca/event/global...

NEW: GutID, the first commercial human gut health test powered by HiFi sequencing, sets a new benchmark in gut microbiome testing. Learn how this transformative tool leverages #PacBio tech to open new frontiers in #healthcare by providing deeper insights into the human #microbiome. bit.ly/3CfmGIF

Yesterday, we celebrated the holidays at our annual Department of Cardiac Surgery party! The Melero-Martin Lab enjoyed great food, a few drinks, and even better company. Grateful for such an amazing team. Wishing all a joyful holiday season! 🎊🎄 @bostonchildrens.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social

Generation of iPSC-derived human venous endothelial cells for the modeling of vascular malformations and drug discovery Pan et al. generate lineage-specific venous endothelial cells with a heterozygous TIE2-mutation from human iPSCs to recapitulate venous malformations in vitro and in vivo. Deep learning combined with ...

Check out this fantastic work by our lab alumnus Kai Wang: Generation of iPSC-derived human venous endothelial cells for the modeling of vascular malformations and drug discovery. Now out in Cell Stem Cell

www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce...

Our lab just got bigger! This fall, we welcomed three new postdocs—Dr. Shih-Yen Wei (Taiwan), Dr. JinJu Kim (Korea), and Dr. Youlu Chen (China)—and visiting student Hyunjung Kim (Korea) to our team at @bostonchildrens.bsky.social and @harvardmed.bsky.social. Welcome aboard!
meleromartinlab.com