BACKGROUND Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) possess robust therapeutic angiogenic potential, yet may be limited in the capacity to develop into fully mature vasculature. This problem might be exacerbated by the absence of a neovascular foundation, namely pericytes, with simple EPC injection. We hypothesized that coculturing EPCs with smooth muscle cells (SMCs), components of the surrounding ...

BACKGROUND Myocardial ischemia provides a potent stimulus to angiogenesis, and the mobilization and differentiation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) has been shown to be important in this process. An elevated level of C-reactive protein (CRP) has emerged as one of the most powerful predictors of cardiovascular disease. However, the impact of CRP on EPC biology is unknown. METHODS AND RE...

It has been shown previously in a number of systems that after an extended block of activity, synaptic strength is increased. We found that an extended block of synaptic activity at the mouse neuromuscular junction, using a tetrodotoxin cuff in vivo, increased synaptic strength by prolonging the evoked endplate current (EPC) decay. Prolongation of EPC decay was accompanied by only modest prolon...

INTRODUCTION Despite the crucial role of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in vascular regeneration, the specific interactions between EPCs and hematopoietic cells remain unclear. METHODS In EPC colony forming assays, we first demonstrated that the formation of EPC colonies was drastically increased in the coculture of CD34+ and CD34- cells, and determined the optimal concentrations of CD34...

BACKGROUND Administration of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) represents a promising option to regenerate the heart after myocardial infarction, but is limited because of low recruitment and engraftment in the myocardium. Mobilization and migration of EPC are mainly controlled by stromal cell-derived factor 1α (SDF-1α) and its receptor CXCR4. We hypothesized that adenosine, a cardioprotective...

BACKGROUND New vessel formation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of neovascular-related diseases. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were found to contribute to neovascular-related diseases and interference with EPC neovascularization may be a novel target for these diseases. Zoledronate (Zol) was reported to exhibit anti-angiogenic effect. Basing on these evidences, we proposed that Z...

Circulating endothelial cells (CEC) and their progenitors (EPC) are restricted subpopulations of peripheral blood (PB), cord blood (CB), and bone marrow (BM) cells, involved in the endothelial homeostasis maintenance. Both CEC and EPC are thought to represent potential biomarkers in several clinical conditions involving endothelial turnover/remodeling. Although different flow cytometry methods ...

Objective Chronic hyperuricemia is associated with cardiovascular disease, but its impact on endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) and ischemia-induced neovascularization remains unclear. Herein we investigated whether chronic hyperuricemia could impede blood flow recovery in response to tissue ischemia by suppression of EPC. Methods Human EPC were isolated and cultured in a high-level uric acid...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of extract of Panax quinquefolius and Corydalis tuber (EPC) on platelet activation and the hypercoagulable state in rats with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The MI model in Wistar rats was induced by coronary artery ligation. Sham surgery was performed as a control. The surviving rats that underwent MI surgery were divided into con...