[Vascular differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells and possible application in the treatment of limb ischemic diseases].

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) is the first discovered and well studied tissue stem cell. HSC transplantation has been successfully applied to cure a variety of diseases of hematological and immunological systems. It has long believed that HSC and angioblast come from the common stem cell, the hemangioblast. Recently, HSC has been demonstrated to be able to differentiate into vascular endothelial cells. In animal in vivo models, HSC transplantation can promote angiogenesis and improve limb ischemia. Several pilot clinical studies have shown that transplantation of bone marrow and granulocyte colony stimulating factor mobilized peripheral blood HSC promoted vascular reconstitution in ischemic limbs. Umbilical cord blood has been an important source of HSC for clinical transplantation. Animal studies have demonstrated the efficiency of cord blood HSC transplantation in improving critical limb ischemia. These studies have provided evidences that HSC can be used for the treatment of vascular diseases.