Role of Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1 in Endothelial Progenitor Cell-Mediated Vascular Repair and Regeneration.

Abstract

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are immature endothelial cells that participate in vascular repair and postnatal neovascularization and provide a novel and promising therapy for the treatment of vascular disease. Studies in different animal models have shown that EPC mobilization through pharmacological agents and autologous EPC transplantation contribute to restoring blood supply and tissue regeneration after ischemic injury. However, these effects of the progenitor cells in clinical studies exhibitmixed results. The therapeutic efficacy of EPCs is closely associated with the number of the progenitor cells recruited into ischemic regions and their functional abilities and survival in injury tissues. In this review, we discussed the regulating role ofstromal cell-derived factor-1(also known CXCL12, SDF-1) in EPC mobilization, recruitment, homing, vascular repair and neovascularization, and analyzedthe underlying machemisms of these functions. Application of SDF-1 to improve the regenerative function of EPCs following vascular injurywas also discussed. SDF-1plays a crucial role in mobilizing EPC from bone marrowinto peripheral circulation, recruiting the progenitor cells to target tissue and protecting against cell death under pathological conditions; thus improve EPC regenerative capacity. SDF-1 are crucial for regulating EPC regenerative function, andprovide a potential target for improve therapeutic efficacy of the progenitor cells in treatment of vascular disease.