title: Peripheral blood stem cells: phenotypic diversity and potential clinical applications.
abstract: A small proportion of cells in peripheral blood are actually pluripotent stem cells. These peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) are thought to be heterogeneous and could be exploited for a variety of clinical applications. The exact number of distinct populations is unknown. It is likely that individual PBSC populations detected by different experimental strategies are similar or overlapping but have been assigned different names. In this mini review, we divide PBSCs into seven groups: hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), CD34- stem cells, CD14+ stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), very small embryonic-like (VSEL) stem cells, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), and other pluripotent stem cells. We review the major characteristics of these stem/progenitor cell populations and their potential applications in ophthalmology.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510060 Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000378:metabolism; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors