Abstract
BackgroundEndothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a fundamental role in post-natal vascular repair, yet EPCs from different anatomic locations possess unique biological properties. The underlying mechanisms are unclear.ResultsEPCs from CB expressed abundant genes involved in cell cycle, hypoxia signalling and blood vessel development, correlating with the phenotypes that CB-EPCs proliferated more rapidly, migrated faster, and formed tubule structure more efficiently. smRNA-seq further deciphered miRNome patterns in EPCs isolated from CB or PB: 54 miRNAs were enriched in CB-EPCs, while another 50 in PB-EPCs. Specifically, CB-EPCs expressed more angiogenic miRNAs such as miR-31, while PB-EPCs possessed more tumor suppressive miRNAs including miR-10a. Knocking down miR-31 levels in CB-EPCs suppressed cell migration and microtubule formation, while overexpressing miR-31 in PB-EPCs helped to recapitulate some of CB-EPC functions.ConclusionsOur results show the foundation for a more detailed understanding of EPCs from different anatomic sources. Stimulating the expression of angiogenic microRNAs or genes in EPCs of low activity (such as those from patients with cardiovascular diseases) might allow the development of novel therapeutic strategies.
Highlights
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a fundamental role in post-natal vascular repair, yet EPCs from different anatomic locations possess unique biological properties
EPCs derived from different anatomic locations, just like other somatic stem cells of different sources [8,9], possess unique biological activities: in vitro phenotypic studies demonstrated that CB-EPCs have competitive advantage compared with PB-EPCs due to their higher proliferative advantage, as well as better survival rate upon stress-induced apoptosis [10,11]
Blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) that were initially seeded on fibronectin-coated wells were round, and outgrowth EPCs with a cobblestone-like morphology similar to mature endothelial cells grew to confluence at days 14-21
Summary
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a fundamental role in post-natal vascular repair, yet EPCs from different anatomic locations possess unique biological properties. Blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) represent the “promoters” of vascular repair providing the rationale for autologous stem cell therapy [2]. Circulating EPCs can be obtained from adult peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood. EPCs derived from different anatomic locations, just like other somatic stem cells of different sources [8,9], possess unique biological activities: in vitro phenotypic studies demonstrated that CB-EPCs have competitive advantage compared with PB-EPCs due to their higher proliferative advantage, as well as better survival rate upon stress-induced apoptosis [10,11]. Umbilical cord blood EPCs hold great therapeutic potential for cell therapy and vascular engineering
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