Open AccessEndothelial progenitor cells as factors in neovascularization and endothelial repair
Author(s) -
Stefano Capobianco,
Venu Chennamaneni,
Mayank Mittal,
Nannan Zhang,
Cuihua Zhang
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
world journal of cardiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1949-8462
DOI - 10.4330/wjc.v2.i12.411
Subject(s) - medicine , progenitor cell , neovascularization , angiogenesis , endothelium , stem cell , bone marrow , endothelial stem cell , vasculogenesis , haematopoiesis , population , embryonic stem cell , immunology , cancer research , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , bioinformatics , biology , in vitro , genetics , environmental health , gene
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are a heterogeneous population of cells that are provided by the bone marrow and other adult tissue in both animals and humans. They express both hematopoietic and endothelial surface markers, which challenge the classic dogma that the presumed differentiation of cells into angioblasts and subsequent endothelial and vascular differentiation occurred exclusively in embryonic development. This breakthrough stimulated research to understand the mechanism(s) underlying their physiologic function to allow development of new therapeutic options. One focus has been on their ability to form new vessels in injured tissues, and another has been on their ability to repair endothelial damage and restore both monolayer integrity and endothelial function in denuded vessels. Moreover, measures of their density have been shown to be a better predictor of cardiovascular events, both in healthy and coronary artery disease populations than the classical tools used in the clinic to evaluate the risk stratification. In the present paper we review the effects of EPCs on revascularization and endothelial repair in animal models and human studies, in an attempt to better understand their function, which may lead to potential advancement in clinical management.