In vitro differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells into endothelial-like cells

The neovascularization of ischemic tissue is a crucial initial step for the functional rehabilitation and wound healing. However, there is lack of a potential source of cells for the foundation of a vascular network. The re- cent studies indicate that hum…

In vitro differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells into endothelial-like cells

The neovascularization of ischemic tis- sue is a crucial initial step for the functional rehabili- tation and wound healing. However, the short of seed cell candidate for the foundation of vascular network is still a big issue. Human adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs), which possess multilineage potential, are capable of adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation. We examined whether this kind of stem cells could dif- ferentiate into endothelial-like cells and participate in blood vessel formation, and whether they could be used as an ideal cell source for therapeutic angio- genesis in ischemic diseases or vascularization of tissue constructs. The results showed that hADSCs, grown under appropriately induced conditions, dis- played characteristics similar to those of vessel en- dothelium. The differentiated cells expressed endo- thelial cell markers CD34 and vWF, and had high metabolism of acetylated low-density lipoprotein and prostacyclin. In addition, the induced cells were able to form tube-like structures when cultured on matrigel. Our data indicated that induced hADSCs could ex- hibit characteristics of endothelial cells. Therefore, these cells, as a source of human endothelial cells, may find many applications in such realms as engi- neering blood vessels, endothelial cell transplantation for myocardial regeneration, and induction of angio- genesis for treatment of regional ischemia.