Insulin stimulates the clonogenic potential of angiogenic endothelial progenitor cells by IGF-1 receptor-dependent signaling.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been shown to be involved in vascular regeneration and angiogenesis in experimental diabetes. Because insulin therapy mobilizes circulating progenitor cells, we studied the effects of insulin on outgrowth of EPCs from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy volunteers and patients with type 2 diabetes. Insulin increased the formation of EPC colony-forming units in a dose-dependent manner, half-maximal at 1.