Endothelial cell clonal expansion in the development of cerebral cavernous malformations

Abstract

Cerebral cavernous malformation is a vascular disease characterized by capillary-venous cavernomas in the central nervous system. Here the authors show that cavernomas display benign tumor characteristics and originate from the clonal expansion of mutated endothelial progenitors which can attract surrounding wild-type cells, inducing their mesenchymal transition and leading to growth of the cavernoma.