Circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with unstable angina: association with systemic inflammation.

Background: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) are present in peripheral blood and can develop a functional endothelial phenotype. The number and function of circulating EPCs are altered in atherosclerosis, diabetes, and after myocardial infarction and EPCs have been shown to promote postnatal angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. We investigated the number and adhesive properties of EPCs from patients with unstable angina and no evidence of cardiac necrosis.

Number and adhesive properties of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with in-stent restenosis.

Objective: Intact endothelialization machinery is essential to facilitate vessel healing after stent placement and to prevent restenosis. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) have been demonstrated in the peripheral blood and shown to display endothelial functional properties, along with the ability to traffic to damaged vasculature. We reasoned that robust in-stent intimal growth could be partially related to impaired endothelialization resulting from reduced circulating EPC number or function.

Evidence that nitric oxide regulates cell-cycle progression in the developing chick neuroepithelium.

In all developing epithelia, the nuclei continually migrate between the apical and basal sides of the cell during the cell cycle, with S phase occurring basally and mitosis occurring apically. The purpose and mechanism of this nuclear migration are unknown. Here, we show that nitric oxide (NO) is endogenously produced in the developing chicken neural tube, where it apparently regulates cell-cycle progression.