title: Concise Review: Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Regenerative Medicine: Applications and Challenges.
abstract: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are currently being studied as candidate cell sources for revascularization strategies. Significant advances have been made in understanding the biology of EPCs, and preclinical studies have demonstrated the vasculogenic, angiogenic, and beneficial paracrine effects of transplanted EPCs in the treatment of ischemic diseases. Despite these promising results, widespread clinical acceptance of EPCs for clinical therapies remains hampered by several challenges. The present study provides a concise summary of the different EPC populations being studied for ischemic therapies and their known roles in the healing of ischemic tissues. The challenges and issues surrounding the use of EPCs and the current strategies being developed to improve the harvest efficiency and functionality of EPCs for application in regenerative medicine are discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have immense clinical value for cardiovascular therapies. The present study provides a concise description of the EPC subpopulations being evaluated for clinical applications. The current major lines of investigation involving preclinical and clinical evaluations of EPCs are discussed, and significant gaps limiting the translation of EPCs are highlighted. The present report could be useful for clinicians and clinical researchers with interests in ischemic therapy and for basic scientists working in the related fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
authors.forename: Mark Seow Khoon
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
authors.forename: Wei Kai
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproductive Medicine, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National University of Singapore, Singapore jerrychan@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Jerry Kok Yen
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D066026:Endothelial Progenitor Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000639:trends
keywords: Clinical translation; Endothelial cell; Hematopoietic cells; Hematopoietic progenitors; Stem/progenitor cell; Tissue regeneration; Tissue-specific stem cells