REVIEW article

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.

Sec. Molecular and Cellular Pathology

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1576067

This article is part of the Research TopicTargeting Pulmonary Endothelium in Acute Lung Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress SyndromeView all 9 articles

Single-Cell RNA Sequencing: New Insights for Pulmonary Endothelial Cells

Provisionally accepted
Ying  YangYing Yang1*Mengyuan  WangMengyuan Wang1Xiao  QiuXiao Qiu1Rui  YangRui Yang2Chengfang  YaoChengfang Yao1
  • 1Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China
  • 2School of Medical Management, Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Pulmonary endothelial cells (PECs) are indispensable for sustaining lung microenvironmental homeostasis and exert significant influence across a spectrum of pulmonary pathologies. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has fundamentally transformed conventional paradigms surrounding PECs, unveiling novel perspectives on their roles in both physiological and pathological lung conditions. This technology provides critical insights into the phenotypic diversity and distinct molecular signatures of PECs, underscoring their substantial heterogeneity in structure, function and gene expression, which is contingent upon their spatial localization within the lung microenvironment. The advancements in scRNA-seq have catalyzed remarkable progress in the therapeutic management of pulmonary pathophysiology, facilitating breakthroughs in the identification of cellular subpopulations, functional characterization and discovery of innovative therapeutic targets. In this review, we systematically synthesize the markers and subclusters of PECs as delineated by scRNA-seq, elucidate their applications in normal and pathological lung contexts, and propose future directions regarding molecular mechanisms and therapeutic interventions targeting PECs.

Keywords: single-cell RNA sequencing, Pulmonary endothelial cells, biomarkers, subcluster characterization, Lung pathology

Received: 13 Feb 2025; Accepted: 28 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Wang, Qiu, Yang and Yao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Ying Yang, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China

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