Department of Plastic Surgery, academisch ziekenhuis Maastricht, MUMC+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 2013;306:43-81. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-407694-5.00002-X.
The term endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) was established more than 10 years ago and is used to refer to a group of circulating cells that display endothelial lineage qualities and are able to home to areas of ischemia or vascular injury and to facilitate the repair of damaged blood vessels or develop new vessels as needed. This chapter reviews the current lineage relationships among all the cells called EPC and will clear the terminology used in EPC research. Furthermore, an overview of the clinical and in vitro research, as well as cytokine and drug interactions and potential EPC applications, is given.
内皮祖细胞（EPC）这一术语是 10 多年前提出的，用于指一群具有内皮谱系特性的循环细胞，能够归巢到缺血或血管损伤部位，并促进受损血管的修复或根据需要生成新的血管。本章回顾了所有被称为 EPC 的细胞的当前谱系关系，并澄清了 EPC 研究中使用的术语。此外，还概述了临床和体外研究、细胞因子和药物相互作用以及潜在的 EPC 应用。
