IntroductionEndothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a critical role in restoration of ischemic diseases. However, the actual status of EPC development and the mechanisms of EPC dysfunctions in patients with various ischemic diseases remain unknown.MethodsTo investigate the detailed function of EPCs in experimental murine models, we have established an EPC colony forming assay (EPC-CFA) in murine EPCs. The abilities of murine EPCs in differentiation, adhesive capacity, proliferative potency, and transplantation in vitro and in vivo were then examined.ResultsPeripheral blood mononuclear cells (PB-MNCs), bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) or bone marrow c-Kit+/Sca-1+ lineage negative (BM-KSL) cells differentiated into two types of EPC colony forming units (EPC-CFUs), large sized EPC (large-EPC)-CFUs and small sized EPC (small-EPC)-CFUs. Gene expression analysis demonstrated that both EPC-CFU-derived cells expressed eNOS, Flk-1 and VE-cadherin, markers of endothelial cells (ECs), although the small-EPCs derived from small-EPC-CFU were higher in number and showed more immature features (higher population of KSL cells). Functionally, the large-EPCs derived from large-EPC-CFU had higher adhesive capacity but lower proliferative potency than small-EPCs, showing improved tubular forming capacity and incorporation potency into primary EC-derived tube formation. Importantly, hindlimb ischemia increased the frequencies of large-EPC-CFUs differentiated from PB-MNCs and bone marrow. Actually, transplantation of large-EPCs into ischemic hindlimb enhanced neovascularization in hindlimb ischemia model, although small-EPCs or murine ECs did not, suggesting that large-EPC-CFUs might play an important role in restoration of ischemic diseases.ConclusionsWe demonstrated, using a murine ischemia model, that the EPC-CFA could be a useful way to investigate the differentiation levels of murine EPCs, further providing a crucial clue that large-EPC-CFU status may be more functional or effective EPCs to promote neovascularization.

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