Abstract
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) derived from bone marrow and blood can differentiate into endothelial cells and promote neovascularization. In addition, EPCs are a promising cell source for the repair of various types of vascularized tissues and have been used in animal experiments and clinical trials for tissue repair. In this review, we focused on the kinetics of endogenous EPCs during tissue repair and the application of EPCs or stem cell populations containing EPCs for tissue regeneration in musculoskeletal and neural tissues including the bone, skeletal muscle, ligaments, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. EPCs can be mobilized from bone marrow and recruited to injured tissue to contribute to neovascularization and tissue repair. In addition, EPCs or stem cell populations containing EPCs promote neovascularization and tissue repair through their differentiation to endothelial cells or tissue-specific cells, the upregulation of growth factors, and the induction and activation of endogenous stem cells. Human peripheral blood CD34(+) cells containing EPCs have been used in clinical trials of bone repair. Thus, EPCs are a promising cell source for the treatment of musculoskeletal and neural tissue injury.
Highlights
IntroductionExcept the cornea, lens, and cartilage, have blood vessels that supply nutrition
Most types of tissue, except the cornea, lens, and cartilage, have blood vessels that supply nutrition
Circulating Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are characterized by the expression of primitive hematopoietic progenitor markers, CD34 or CD133, and endothelial markers, CD31, Flk-1/kinase insert domain receptor (KDR)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor2 (VEGFR2), vascular endothelial- (VE-) cadherin, and Tie2 [26,27,28]
Summary
Except the cornea, lens, and cartilage, have blood vessels that supply nutrition. Neovascularization is required to supply nutrition and to improve the environment for the tissue regeneration. The endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) has been reported as a promising cell source for promoting neovascularization [9, 10]. EPCs can differentiate into endothelial cells and contribute directly to the formation of new blood vessels in tumors or ischemic disease [11,12,13,14]. EPCs can promote the repair of injured tissue through the acceleration of neovascularization. We examine the application of EPCs to the repair of musculoskeletal and neural tissues
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