The Presence of Endothelial Cell Precursors in Blood Circulation.
In the present study, an attempt was made to prove the question whether endothelial cell precursors exist in blood circulation during postnatal period. CD34(+) cells were harvested from G-CSF mobilized adult blood and umbilical cord blood and incubated onto fibronectin/gelatin-coated Petric dishes in the presence of recombinant human vascular endothelial cell growth factor(rhVEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor(rhbFGF). Endothelial cell lineage was identified by von Willebrand factor(vWF) expression and Ulex europous agglutinin I(UEA-I) binding capacity. The results showed that a firmly adherent cell monolayer formed when CD34(+) cells, but not CD34(-) cells, were cultured for 5 - 6 weeks as described before. Immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry analysis showed that almost all of the adherent cells were vWF-positive and around 90% were able to bind UEA-I specifically. These findings demonstrate that angioblasts exist in the circulation during postnatal life and therefore, vasculogenesis might occur in adults.
Guo
Zi-Kuan
ZK
Department of Cell Biology, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China.
Tang
Pei-Hsien
PH
Liu
Xiao-Dan
XD
Yuan
Hong-Feng
HF
Mao
Ning
N