Igreja Cátia, Fragoso Rita, Caiado Francisco, Clode Nuno, Henriques Alexandra, Camargo Lauren, Reis Eduardo M, Dias Sérgio
Angiogenesis Lab, CIPM/Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Lisboa, Portugal.
Exp Hematol. 2008 Feb;36(2):193-203. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2007.09.001. Epub 2007 Nov 26.
Given their involvement in pathological and physiological angiogenesis, there has been growing interest in understanding and manipulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) for therapeutic purposes. However, detailed molecular analysis of EPC before and during endothelial differentiation is lacking and is the subject of the present study.
We report a detailed microarray gene-expression profile of freshly isolated (day 0) human cord blood (CB)-derived EPC (CD133+KDR+ or CD34+KDR+), and at different time points during in vitro differentiation (early: day 13; late: day 27).
Data obtained reflect an EPC transcriptome enriched in genes related to stem/progenitor cells properties (chromatin remodeling, self-renewal, signaling, cytoskeleton organization and biogenesis, recruitment, and adhesion). Using a complementary DNA microarray enriched in intronic transcribed sequences, we observed, as well, that naturally transcribed intronic noncoding RNAs were specifically expressed at the EPC stage.
Taken together, we have defined the global gene-expression profile of CB-derived EPC during the process of endothelial differentiation, which can be used to identify genes involved in different vascular pathologies.
鉴于内皮祖细胞（EPC）参与病理性和生理性血管生成，人们对为治疗目的而了解和操控EPC的兴趣日益浓厚。然而，目前缺乏对EPC在内皮分化之前及过程中的详细分子分析，而本研究正是围绕这一主题展开。
我们报告了新鲜分离的（第0天）人脐带血（CB）来源的EPC（CD133+KDR+或CD34+KDR+）以及体外分化不同时间点（早期：第13天；晚期：第27天）的详细微阵列基因表达谱。
所获得的数据反映了一个富含与干细胞/祖细胞特性（染色质重塑、自我更新、信号传导、细胞骨架组织与生物合成、募集及黏附）相关基因的EPC转录组。使用富含内含子转录序列序列的互补DNA微阵列，我们还观察到天然转录的内含子非编码RNA在EPC阶段特异性表达。
综上所述，我们定义了CB来源的EPC在内皮分化过程中的整体基因表达谱，该谱可用于识别参与不同血管病变的基因。
