Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Curr Opin Hematol. 2011 May;18(3):166-70. doi: 10.1097/MOH.0b013e328345a16a.
Since the discovery of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), there have been conflicting reports as to the precise phenotypic identity, and thus an accurate description of the function of these cells in disease pathology is lacking. This review will detail the protocols that have been published within 2010 to help decipher the true identity of the various cells that have been reported as EPCs in numerous clinical trials.
Throughout 2010, three protocols have been published alleging to identify EPCs, yet only one provides a true nonhematopoietic origin for a cell that is classified as an EPC. In addition to the protocols published to try to establish a consensus definition, 10 studies involving EPCs across disease pathologies were published with various degrees of correlation to disease phenotype and cellular level.
A true phenotypic definition of a circulating EPC capable of becoming an endothelial colony forming cell with proliferative potential has been given. It is now time the EPC field drops this ambiguous term (i.e. EPCs), as many studies purporting to measure EPCs are in fact still quantifying cells of a hematopoietic origin. It is necessary for cross study comparisons that a uniform phenotypic definition be adhered to when using the term EPC.
自发现内皮祖细胞（EPCs）以来，对于这些细胞的确切表型特征存在相互矛盾的报道，因此缺乏对这些细胞在疾病发病机制中功能的准确描述。这篇综述将详细介绍 2010 年发表的各项方案，以帮助阐明在众多临床试验中被报道为 EPC 的各种细胞的真实身份。
2010 年全年共发表了 3 项方案，声称可鉴定 EPC，但只有一项方案为被归类为 EPC 的细胞提供了真正的非造血起源。除了为建立共识定义而发表的方案外，还发表了 10 项涉及不同疾病发病机制的 EPC 研究，这些研究与疾病表型和细胞水平具有不同程度的相关性。
目前已经对能够成为具有增殖潜能的内皮集落形成细胞的循环 EPC 进行了真正的表型定义。现在是时候让 EPC 领域放弃这个模糊的术语（即 EPC）了，因为许多声称测量 EPC 的研究实际上仍在量化造血来源的细胞。在使用 EPC 一词时，为了便于进行跨研究比较，有必要遵守统一的表型定义。
