title: Autologous cell sources in therapeutic vasculogenesis: In vitro and in vivo comparison of endothelial colony-forming cells from peripheral blood and endothelial cells isolated from adipose tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Autologous endothelial cells are promising alternative angiogenic cell sources in trials of therapeutic vasculogenesis, in the treatment of vascular diseases and in the field of tissue engineering. A population of endothelial cells (ECs) with long-term proliferative capability, endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), can be isolated from human peripheral blood. ECFCs are considered an endothelial precursor population. They can be expanded in cell factories in sufficient numbers for clinical applications, but because the number of isolated primary ECs is low, the culture period required may be long. Another EC population that is easily available in the autologous setting and may be expanded in vitro through several population doublings are ECs from adipose tissue (AT-ECs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Through extensive comparisons using whole-genome microarray analysis, morphology, phenotype and functional assays, we wanted to evaluate the potential of these EC populations for use in clinical neovascularization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Global gene expression profiling of ECFCs, AT-ECs and the classical EC population, human umbilical vein ECs, showed that the EC populations clustered as unique populations, but very close to each other. By cell surface phenotype and vasculogenic potential in vitro and in vivo, we also found the ECFCs to be extremely similar to AT-ECs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These properties, together with easy access in the autologous setting, suggest that both AT-ECs and ECFCs may be useful in trials of therapeutic neovascularization. However, AT-ECs may be a more practical alternative for obtaining large quantities of autologous ECs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: krisztina.szoke@rr-research.no.
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Szöke
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Unit, Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, University Clinic of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reinisch
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; Department of Biomaterials, Institute of Clinical Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Esben
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Østrup
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Finn P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Reinholt
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Jan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Brinchmann
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010641:Phenotype; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
keywords: adipose tissue-derived endothelial cells; cell therapy; endothelial colony–forming cells; microarray analysis