title: Endothelial colony-forming progenitor cell isolation and expansion.
abstract: Vessel wall-derived somatic endothelial colony-forming progenitor cells (ECFCs) are key players in vascular homeostasis and regeneration. Due to their robust proliferative potential and profound vessel-forming capacity, ECFCs are considered to represent an attractive tool for vascular regenerative medicine and a promising target for antiangiogenic tumor therapy. Here, we describe an easily applicable method for isolating ECFCs directly from unmanipulated adult human blood and an animal protein-free large-scale expansion system to generate more than 100 million functional ECFCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, University Clinic of Internal Medicine, Medical University, Graz, Austria. nicole.hofmann@klinikum-graz.at
authors.forename: Nicole A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reinisch
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Strunk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002469:Cell Separation; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*