Fetal Endothelial Progenitor Cells Promote Vascularisation and Functional Recovery of Ischaemic Tissue

摘要

This study demonstrates that EPC isolated from mid-gestation fetal circulation. fEPC are phenotypically and functionally different from UCB-EPC. The more plastic nature and greater propensity for colony formation and proliferation suggests that fEPC are more primitive. fEPC were found to be more vasculogenic in both in vitro and in vivo assays. Finally, microarray data identifies several upregulated genes associated with vascular development, further indicating a role for fEPC in the developing fetus. Studying the role of these unique EPC in fetal vasculogenesis may be useful for the engineering of vascular networks for engineered tissue.