title: VEGF treatment promotes bone marrow-derived CXCR4+mesenchymal stromal stem cell differentiation into vessel endothelial cells.
abstract: Stem/progenitor cells serve an important role in the process of blood vessel repair. However, the mechanism of vascular repair mediated by C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4-positive (CXCR4+) bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) following myocardial infarction remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on vessel endothelial differentiation from BMSCs. CXCR4+BMSCs were isolated from the femoral bone marrow of 2-month-old mice and the cells were treated with VEGF. Expression of endothelial cell markers and the functional properties were assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry and vascular formation analyses. The results indicated that the CXCR4+BMSCs from femoral bone marrow cells expressed putative cell surface markers of mesenchymal stem cells. Treatment with VEGF induced platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) expression at the transcriptional and translational levels, compared with untreated controls. Moreover, VEGF treatment induced CXCR4+BMSCs to form hollow tube-like structures on Matrigel, suggesting that the differentiated endothelial cells had the functional properties of blood vessels. The results demonstrate that the CXCR4+BMSCs were able to differentiate into vessel endothelial cells following VEGF treatment. For cell transplantation in vascular disease, it may be concluded that CXCR4+BMSCs are a novel source of endothelial progenitor cells with high potential for application in vascular repair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, Zhejiang 322000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qiming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, Zhejiang 322000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shudong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Second People's Hospital of Yueqing, Yueqing, Zhejiang 325608, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hanyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Second People's Hospital of Yueqing, Yueqing, Zhejiang 325608, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jiansheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Second People's Hospital of Yueqing, Yueqing, Zhejiang 325608, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yinfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: The Ningbo Central Blood Station, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Deng
keywords: bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; differentiation; endothelial cells; vascular endothelial growth factor