Journal
STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
Volume 5, Issue 10, Pages 1302-1306Publisher
ALPHAMED PRESS
DOI: 10.5966/sctm.2016-0066
Keywords
Endothelial; Progenitor; Vascular; Angiogenesis
Categories
Funding
- National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia [APP1023368]
- Rebecca L. Cooper Research Foundation
- University of Queensland Minor Equipment Grant
- National Heart Foundation of Australia Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
- NHMRC Career Development Fellowship
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Since the discovery of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) almost 2 decades ago, there has been great hope in their use in treating chronic ischemic disease. Unfortunately, to date, many of the clinical trials using EPCs have been hampered by the lack of clear definition of this cell population. Attributes of a progenitor population are self-renewal and multipotentiality. Major progress has been achieved moving from a definition of EPCs based on a candidate cell surface molecule to a functional definition based essentially on self-renewal hierarchy of endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs). More recent work has seized on this functional characterization to associate gene expression signatures with the self-renewal capacity of ECFCs. In particular, Notch signaling driving the quiescence of progenitors has been shown to be central to progenitor self-renewal. This new molecular definition has tremendous translational consequences, because progenitors have been shown to display greater vasculogenic potential. Also, this molecular definition of EPC self-renewal allows assessment of the quality of presumed EPC preparations. This promises to be the initial stage in progressing EPCs further into mainstream clinical use.
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