循环内皮祖细胞及其应用

Circulating endothelial progenitor cell and its application

内皮祖细胞(endothelial progenitor cells,EPCs)是一类能增殖、迁移并分化为成熟血管内皮细胞,但尚未表达成熟血管内皮细胞表型,也未形成血管的前体细胞。对于存在于人体外周血循环中的内皮祖细胞,称为循环内皮祖细胞(circulating endothelial progenitor cells,CEPCs),其参与出生后血管新生和内皮损伤后的修复过程。CEPCs已成为心血管疾病等存在内皮损伤相关研究的热点。本文综述了循环内皮祖细胞的生物学特性,影响循环内皮祖细胞数量和功能的因素,以及循环内皮祖细胞在实际中应用的最新研究进展,为心血管疾病诊断和治疗提供新思路、新手段。

Endothelial progenitor ceils （EPCs） have the capacity to proliferate, migrate, and differentiate into mature vessel endothelial cells, but have not yet expressed into the mature vessel endothelial cell type, and have not formed to be the precursor cell of the blood vessels. For those EPCs existed in the peripheral blood circulation in human, known as circulating endothelial progenitor cells （CEPCs） , participating in the vascular neogenesis after born and repairing process after endothelial injury. It has become a hot spot of the research on the cardiovascular diseases and other involving endothelial injury. This article comprehensively describes the bio-characteristics of EPCs, the factors influencing the number and functions of EPCs, and the newest research progress in the actual applications of EPCs, providing the new thoughts and new approach for the diagnosis and therapy of cardiovascular diseases.