Recent Advances in Endothelial Colony Forming Cells Toward Their Use in Clinical Translation

Abstract

The term “Endothelial progenitor cell” (EPC) has been used to describe multiple cell populations that express endothelial surface makers and promote vascularisation. However, the only population that has all the characteristics of a real “EPC” is the Endothelial Colony Forming Cells (ECFC). ECFC possess clonal proliferative potential, display endothelial and not myeloid cell surface markers, and exhibit pronounced postnatal vascularisation ability in vivo. ECFC have been used to investigate endothelial molecular dysfunction in several diseases, as they give access to endothelial cells from patients in a non-invasive way. ECFC also represent a promising tool for revascularization of damaged tissue. Here we review the translational applications of ECFC research. We discuss studies which have used ECFC to investigate molecular endothelial abnormalities in several diseases and review the evidence supporting the use of ECFC for autologous cell therapy, gene therapy and tissue regeneration. Finally, we discuss ways to improve the therapeutic efficacy of ECFC in clinical applications, as well as the challenges that must be overcome to use ECFC in clinical trials for regenerative approaches.

Development of Macrocycle Kinase Inhibitors for ALK2 Using Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva‐Derived Endothelial Cells

“…ECFCs are isolated following a protocol already used for the isolation of immune cells from peripheral blood, which is minimally modified to favor ECFC colony proliferation and can be cultured for multiple passages. ECFCs have been previously used as surrogates to study vascular diseases (reviewed in). Interestingly, a number of vascular comorbidities have been reported in the few existing manuscripts containing patient‐derived tissues, including ventricular dysfunction with cardiac fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension caused by a decreased pulmonary vascular bed .…”

Standardization of methods to quantify and culture endothelial colony‐forming cells derived from peripheral blood

“…Currently, ECFCs are being proposed for a variety of medical applications, including as liquid biopsies to investigate endothelial dysfunction in patients, as cellular vehicles in gene therapy, and as therapeutic cell products . In the fields of thrombosis and hemostasis, ECFCs have been instrumental in investigating specific cellular and molecular defects in endothelial cells from patients with von Willebrand disease (VWD) and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) . Despite the broad appeal of ECFCs, several issues remain that prevent their widespread use—most notably, the lack of consensus with regard to the methods used to quantify, culture and evaluate ECFCs.…”

Fibrin – a promising material for vascular tissue engineering

“…ЭПК могут быть получены из собственной периферической крови. Увеличение количества ЭПК в ответ на сосудистое механическое повреждение, гипоксию и ишемию расширяет возможность выделения ЭК из крови, которая представляет собой наиболее доступный, постоянный и неистощимый источник аутологичных колоние-формирующих ЭК (КФЭК) (Endothelial Colony Forming Cells -ECFCs) [76,77]. Кроме того, из крови возможно изолировать колониеформирующие ГМК (КФГМК) (Late Outgrowth Smooth Muscle Cells -LOSMC) [78,79], необходимые для заселения стенки сосудистого протеза.…”