King's College London, Cardiovascular Division, London SE1 9NH, UK.
Microvasc Res. 2010 May;79(3):162-8. doi: 10.1016/j.mvr.2009.12.004. Epub 2010 Jan 4.
The first description of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) in 1997 led rapidly to substantial changes in our understanding of angiogenesis, and within 5 years to the first clinical studies in humans using bone marrow derived EPC to enhance coronary neovascularisation and cardiac function after myocardial ischemia. However, to improve the success of this therapy a clearer understanding of the biology of EPC is needed. This article summarises recent data indicating that most EPC are not, in fact, endothelial progenitors but can be better described as angiogenic monocytes, and explores the implications this has for their future therapeutic use.
1997 年首次描述内皮祖细胞（EPC），这迅速促使我们对血管生成的认识发生重大变化，不到 5 年，就开始了首次在人体中使用骨髓来源的 EPC 来增强心肌缺血后冠状动脉新生和心脏功能的临床研究。然而，为了提高这种治疗方法的成功率，需要更清楚地了解 EPC 的生物学特性。本文总结了最近的数据，这些数据表明，大多数 EPC 实际上并不是内皮祖细胞，而可以更好地描述为血管生成的单核细胞，并探讨了这对其未来治疗用途的影响。
