Povsic Thomas J, Zavodni Katherine L, Vainorius Enrikas, Kherani Jennifer F, Goldschmidt-Clermont Pascal J, Peterson Eric D
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Am Heart J. 2009 Feb;157(2):335-44. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2008.10.010. Epub 2008 Dec 9.
Multiple measures of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been described, but there has been limited study of the comparability of these assays. We sought to determine the reproducibility of and correlation between alternative EPC assay methodologies.
We simultaneously assessed EPC numbers in 140 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization using the 2 most commonly used culture techniques: endothelial cell outgrowth and colony-forming unit (CFU). In the final 77 patients, EPCs were also identified on the basis of cell surface marker expression (CD133, CD34, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 [VEGFR-2]) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity.
Endothelial progenitor cell enumeration based on fluorescence activated cell sorting was more precise than culture assays. There was limited correlation between EPC numbers determined using the 2 common culture-based assays; however, endothelial CFUs correlated with VEGFR-2 and CD34/VEGFR-2-expressing cells. Endothelial progenitor cells defined by expression of CD133, CD34, CD133/CD34, and ALDH activity correlated with each other, but not with VEGFR-2(+) cells.
Endothelial progenitor cells can be broadly classified into 2 classes: VEGFR-2-expressing cells, which give rise to endothelial CFUs, and CD133/CD34 or ALDH(br) cells. These observations underscore the need for better assay standardization and a more precise definition of EPCs in cell therapy research.
已描述了多种内皮祖细胞（EPC）检测方法，但对这些检测方法的可比性研究有限。我们试图确定替代EPC检测方法的可重复性及相关性。
我们使用两种最常用的培养技术：内皮细胞集落形成和集落形成单位（CFU），同时评估了140例接受心脏导管插入术患者的EPC数量。在最后77例患者中，还根据细胞表面标志物表达（CD133、CD34和血管内皮生长因子受体2 [VEGFR-2]）和醛脱氢酶（ALDH）活性鉴定EPC。
基于荧光激活细胞分选的内皮祖细胞计数比培养检测更精确。使用两种基于培养的常见检测方法确定的EPC数量之间相关性有限；然而，内皮CFU与表达VEGFR-2和CD34/VEGFR-2的细胞相关。由CD133、CD34、CD133/CD34表达和ALDH活性定义的内皮祖细胞相互之间相关，但与VEGFR-2（+）细胞不相关。
内皮祖细胞可大致分为两类：产生内皮CFU的VEGFR-2表达细胞，以及CD133/CD34或ALDH（br）细胞。这些观察结果强调了在细胞治疗研究中需要更好的检测标准化和对EPC更精确的定义。
