Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232–9544, USA.
J Perinatol. 2010 Nov;30(11):724-30. doi: 10.1038/jp.2010.35. Epub 2010 Mar 25.
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been examined in numerous adult diseases and have been suggested as a cellular-based therapy. However, there are no reports describing EPCs being isolated from newborn peripheral blood.
Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), a subtype of EPCs, were isolated from blood collected from 12 neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuits.
ECFCs were isolated in all samples. We unexpectedly isolated a distinctly different colony of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in seven samples. Both cell types expressed the expected endothelial or mesenchymal cell surface antigens.
To our knowledge, this is the first report of ECFCs and MSCs isolated from peripheral blood of critically ill term newborns. Both cells types may be mobilized in response to critical illness or to the ECMO circuit. Further studies evaluating the role of stem cells in various newborn conditions are warranted.
内皮祖细胞（EPCs）已在许多成人疾病中进行了研究，并被提议作为一种基于细胞的治疗方法。然而，目前尚无从新生儿外周血中分离 EPCs 的报道。
从 12 例新生儿体外膜肺氧合（ECMO）回路采集的血液中分离出内皮集落形成细胞（ECFCs），这是 EPCs 的一种亚型。
所有样本中均分离出 ECFCs。出人意料的是，在 7 个样本中还分离出了一种明显不同的间充质干细胞（MSC）集落。两种细胞类型均表达预期的内皮或间充质细胞表面抗原。
据我们所知，这是首例从危重新生儿外周血中分离出 ECFCs 和 MSCs 的报道。两种细胞类型都可能在危重病或 ECMO 回路的刺激下被动员。进一步研究评估干细胞在各种新生儿疾病中的作用是必要的。
