title: Platelets and stromal cell-derived factor-1 in progenitor cell recruitment.
abstract: Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) is a CXC chemokine that binds to its sole counterreceptor, CXCR4. It is well reported that the SDF-1/CXCR4 signaling pathway is of vital importance to human development and to various pathophysiological phenomena, including hematopoiesis, angiogenesis, atherosclerosis, cancer growth, metastasis, and human immunodeficiency virus infection. SDF-1 promotes mobilization of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) to the circulation in response to vascular injury. Recently, we found that platelets express and release SDF-1 into the microcirculation upon activation and we observed that platelet-derived SDF-1 is functionally involved in recruitment of EPCs to arterial thrombi in vivo. This review discusses the unique functions of this chemokine and the newly discovered impact of platelet-derived SDF-1 into the recruitment of progenitor cells to vascular injury areas, and its subsequent effects in atherosclerosis, vascular repair, and angiogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik III, Eberhard Karls-Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stellos
authors.forename: Meinrad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gawaz
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology*; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12; D019743:Chemokines, CXC / Q000502:physiology*; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C515255:CXCL12 protein, human; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12; D019743:Chemokines, CXC; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4