Summary
A rapidly increasing body of data suggests an essential role of endothelial progenitor
cells (EPCs) in vascular regeneration, formation of new vessels in cardiovascular
diseases and also in tumor vasculogenesis. Moreover, recent data obtained from clinical
studies with anti-angiogenic drugs in tumor therapy or with pro-angiogenic stimuli
in ischemic disorders implicate a predictive role of the number of EPCs circulating
in the peripheral blood in monitoring of these diseases. However, there is still some
controversial data regarding the relevance of the EPCs in vascular formation depending
on models used and diseases studied. One of the essential prerequisites for a better
understanding of the whole contribution of EPCs to vascular formation in adult, a
process called postnatal vasculogenesis, is to identify their exact sources. We could
recently discover the existence of EPCs in a distinct zone of the vascular wall of
large and middle sized adult blood vessels and showed that these cells are capable
to differentiate into mature endothelial cells, to form capillary sprouts in arterial
ring assay and to build vasa vasorumlike structures within the vascular wall. They
also can be mobilized very rapidly from the vascular wall by tumor cells. This review
will discuss the functional implications of these vascular wall resident endothelial
progenitor cells (VW-EPCs) in relation to those of EPCs circulating in peripheral
blood or derived from the bone marrow in cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases.
Keywords
Postnatal vasculogenesis - angiogenesis - tumor - atherosclerosis - vascular adventitia