Characterization of two types of endothelial progenitor cells and their different contributions to neovasculogenesis.
OBJECTIVE
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) in one study group is not the same as EPC in other investigators, suggesting that EPC is not a single type of cell population. In this study, we tried to demonstrate the heterogeneity of EPC.


RESULTS
We cultured total mononuclear cells from human peripheral blood to get two types of EPC sequentially from the same donors. We called them early EPC and late EPC. Early EPC with spindle shape showed peak growth at 2 to 3 weeks and died at 4 weeks, whereas late EPC with cobblestone shape appeared late at 2 to 3 weeks, showed exponential growth at 4 to 8 weeks, and lived up to 12 weeks. Late EPC was different from early EPC in the expression of VE-cadherin, Flt-1, KDR, and CD45. Late EPC produced more nitric oxide, incorporated more readily into human umbilical vein endothelial cells monolayer, and formed capillary tube better than early EPC. Early EPC secreted angiogenic cytokines (vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin 8) more so than late EPC during culture in vitro. Both types of EPC showed comparable in vivo vasculogenic capacity.


CONCLUSIONS
We found two types of EPC from a source of adult peripheral blood that might have different roles in neovasculogenesis based on the identified differences.
Hur
Jin
J
Cardiovascular Laboratory, Clinical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Korea.
Yoon
Chang-Hwan
CH
Kim
Hyo-Soo
HS
Choi
Jin-Ho
JH
Kang
Hyun-Jae
HJ
Hwang
Kyung-Kook
KK
Oh
Byung-Hee
BH
Lee
Myoung-Mook
MM
Park
Young-Bae
YB
D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned / Q000737:chemistry; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000378:metabolism; D007511:Ischemia / Q000503:physiopathology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells / Q000502:physiology; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014471:Umbilical Veins / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D016209:Interleukin-8; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A