Vascular endothelium as a novel sourceof stem cells for bioengineering

摘要

Endothelial plasticity, the ability of endothelial cells to altertheir lineage commitment to generate other cell types, isinvolved in many developmental and pathological processes.It was recently shown that vascular endothelial cells areconverted to a mesenchymal stem cell phenotype througha process known as endothelial-mesenchymal transition(EndMT). EndMT is characterized as a morphological andphenotypical transformation of endothelial cells that hasbeen implicated in cardiac development, cancer, fibrosis andheterotopic ossification. Here we describe the molecular andcellular basis for EndMT-dependent generation of endothelialderivedstem cells and their potential for tissue engineeringand regenerative medicine.