Impaired development and dysfunction of endothelial progenitor cells in type 2 diabetic mice.

Aim: Dysfunction of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) has been shown to affect the development of microvascular diseases in diabetes patients. The aim of this study was to elucidate the development and mechanical dysfunction of EPCs in type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: The colony-forming capacity of EPCs and differentiation potential of bone marrow (BM) c-Kit(+)/Sca-I(+) lineage-negative mononuclear cells (KSL) were examined in T2D mice, db/db mice and KKA mice, using EPC colony-forming assay (EPC-CFA).

Association of physical activity with the visuospatial/executive functions of the montreal cognitive assessment in patients with vascular cognitive impairment.

Background: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is more suitable than the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for the detection of vascular cognitive impairment. In this study, we performed a correlation analysis of MoCA/MMSE scores with daily physical activity in patients with subcortical ischemic white matter changes.

Methods: Ten patients (average 75.

Therapeutic superiority for cartilage repair by CD271-positive marrow stromal cell transplantation.

Recent reports indicated that human isolated CD271+ bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) have a greater expansion and potential for multipotent differentiation including chondrogenesis than classical plastic adherent (PA) BM-MSCs in vitro. Therefore, we set up a hypothesis that CD271+ MSCs may have a greater chondrogenic potential than PA-MSCs in vitro and in vivo. We investigated the superiority of CD271+ MSCs on chondrogenesis using in vitro expansion and pellet culture system and in vivo rat model of cartilage defect when compared to PA-MSCs.

Fracture induced mobilization and incorporation of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells for bone healing.

We recently reported that systemic administration of peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ cells, an endothelial progenitor cell (EPC)-enriched population, contributed to fracture healing via vasculogenesis/angiogenesis. However, pathophysiological role of EPCs in fracture healing process has not been fully clarified. Therefore, we investigated the hypothesis whether mobilization and incorporation of bone marrow (BM)-derived EPCs may play a pivotal role in appropriate fracture healing.

[Endothelial progenitor cells for vascular medicine].

The regenerative potential of stem cells has recently been under intense investigation. In vitro, stem and progenitor cells have the ability for self-renewal and differentiation into organ-specific cell types. In vivo, transplantation of these cells may reconstitute organ systems, as shown in animal models of disease.

Synchrotron radiation coronary microangiography for morphometric and physiological evaluation of myocardial neovascularization induced by endothelial progenitor cell transplantation.

Background: Therapeutic effect of stem cell transplantation (SCTx) for myocardial neovascularization has been evaluated by histological capillary density in small animals. However, it has been technically difficult to obtain imaging evidence of collateral formation by conventional angiography.

Methods And Results: Peripheral blood CD34+ and CD34- cells were isolated from patients with critical limb ischemia.

Therapeutic potential of vasculogenesis and osteogenesis promoted by peripheral blood CD34-positive cells for functional bone healing.

Failures in fracture healing are mainly caused by a lack of vascularization. Adult human circulating CD34+ cells, an endothelial/hematopoietic progenitor-enriched cell population, have been reported to differentiate into osteoblasts in vitro; however, the therapeutic potential of CD34+ cells for fracture healing is still unclear. Therefore, we performed a series of experiments to test our hypothesis that functional fracture healing is supported by vasculogenesis and osteogenesis via regenerative plasticity of CD34+ cells.

Dose-dependent contribution of CD34-positive cell transplantation to concurrent vasculogenesis and cardiomyogenesis for functional regenerative recovery after myocardial infarction.

Background: Multilineage developmental capacity of the CD34+ cells, especially into cardiomyocytes and smooth muscle cells (SMCs), is still controversial. In the present study we performed a series of experiments to prove our hypothesis that vasculogenesis and cardiomyogenesis after myocardial infarction (MI) may be dose-dependently enhanced after CD34+ cell transplantation.

Methods And Results: Peripheral blood CD34+ cells were isolated from total mononuclear cells of patients with limb ischemia by apheresis after 5-day administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

Endothelial progenitor cells for vasculogenesis.

Postnatal vasculogenesis is considered to be involved in neovascularization of adult tissues, because bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were isolated from circulating mononuclear cells in peripheral blood and were shown to incorporate into sites of physiological and pathological neovascularization and to differentiate into mature endothelial cells. EPCs might have an attractive potential therapeutic application for cardiovascular ischemic diseases as a novel cell-based strategy mainly via a vasculogenesis mechanism.

Endothelial progenitor cells for postnatal vasculogenesis.

In the past decade, researchers have defined committed stem or progenitor cells from various tissues, including bone marrow, peripheral blood, brain, liver, and reproductive organs, in both adult animals and humans. Whereas most cells in adult organs are composed of differentiated cells, which express a variety of specific phenotypic genes adapted to each organ's environment, quiescent stem or progenitor cells are maintained locally or in the systemic circulation and are activated by environmental stimuli for physiological and pathological tissue regeneration. Recently, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were isolated from peripheral blood CD34, Flk-1, or AC133 antigen-positive cells, which are considered to include a hematopoietic stem cell population, and were shown to be incorporated into foci of neovascularization.