Putative endothelial cell (EC) progenitors or angioblasts were isolated from human peripheral blood by magnetic bead selection on the basis of cell surface antigen expression. In vitro, these cells differentiated into ECs. In animal models of ischemia, heterologous, homologous, and autologous EC progenitors incorporated into sites of active angiogenesis. These findings suggest that EC progenitors may be useful for augmenting collateral vessel growth to ischemic tissues (therapeutic angiogenesis) and for delivering anti- or pro-angiogenic agents, respectively, to sites of pathologic or utilitarian angiogenesis.

Animal studies and preliminary results in humans suggest that lower extremity and myocardial ischemia can be attenuated by treatment with angiogenic cytokines. The resident population of endothelial cells that is competent to respond to an available level of angiogenic growth factors, however, may potentially limit the extent to which cytokine supplementation enhances tissue neovascularization. Accordingly, we transplanted human endothelial progenitor cells (hEPCs) to athymic nude mice with hindlimb ischemia. Blood flow recovery and capillary density in the ischemic hindlimb were markedly improved, and the rate of limb loss was significantly reduced. Ex vivo expanded hEPCs may thus have utility as a “supply-side” strategy for therapeutic neovascularization.

Background — Previous studies have established that bone marrow–derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are present in the systemic circulation. In the current study, we investigated the hypothesis that gene transfer can be used to achieve phenotypic modulation of EPCs. Methods and Results — In vitro, ex vivo murine vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) 164 gene transfer augmented EPC proliferative activity and enhanced adhesion and incorporation of EPCs into quiescent as well as activated endothelial cell monolayers. To determine if such phenotypic modulation may facilitate therapeutic neovascularization, heterologous EPCs transduced with adenovirus encoding VEGF were administered to athymic nude mice with hindlimb ischemia; neovascularization and blood flow recovery were both improved, and limb necrosis/autoamputation were reduced by 63.7% in comparison with control animals. The dose of EPCs used for the in vivo experiments was 30 times less than that required in previous trials of EPC transplantation to improve ischemic limb salvage. Necropsy analysis of animals that received DiI-labeled VEGF-transduced EPCs confirmed that enhanced EPC incorporation demonstrated in vitro contributed to in vivo neovascularization as well. Conclusions — In vitro, VEGF EPC gene transfer enhances EPC proliferation, adhesion, and incorporation into endothelial cell monolayers. In vivo, gene-modified EPCs facilitate the strategy of cell transplantation to augment naturally impaired neovascularization in an animal model of experimentally induced limb ischemia.