Idermfiration and Charactetizaiion of Bone Marrow-derived Vascular Progenitor Cells

平滑肌细胞的大量积累在血管疾病的发病机制中起主要作用。一般认为，来源于相邻内侧层的平滑肌细胞迁移、增殖并合成细胞外基质。尽管针对内侧平滑肌细胞的迁移和增殖进行了大量的研究，但尚未建立有效的治疗方法来防止闭塞性血管重构。最近，我们报道了在血管成形术后再狭窄、移植物血管病变和高脂血症诱导的动脉粥样硬化模型中，骨髓细胞在血管疾病的发病机制中起重要作用。这表明骨髓细胞可能具有产生血管祖细胞的潜力，这些祖细胞在受损血管中归巢并分化为平滑肌细胞或内皮细胞，从而有助于血管的修复、重塑和病变的形成。我们的发现可能为开发新的血管疾病治疗策略提供基础，以循环血管祖细胞的动员、归巢、分化和增殖为目标。假定的血管祖细胞将用于生成生物人工动脉，以治疗严重动脉粥样硬化患者。

Exuberant accumulation of smooth muscle cells plays a principal role in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases. It has been assumed that smooth muscle cells derived from the adjacent medial layer migrate, proliferate and synthesize extra cellular matrix. Although much effort has been devoted, targeting migration and proliferation of medial smooth muscle cells, no effective therapy to prevent occlusive vascular remodeling has been established. Recently, we reported that bone marrow cells substantially contribute to the pathogenesis of vascular diseases, in models of post-angioplasty restenosis, graft vasculopathy and hyperlipidemia-induced atherosclerosis. It was suggested that bone marrow cells may have the potential to give rise to vascular progenitor cells that home in the damaged vessels and differentiate into smooth muscle cells or endothelial cells, thereby contributing to vascular repair, remodeling, and lesion formation. Our findings may provide the basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies for vascular diseases, targeting mobilization, homing, differentiation and proliferation of circulating vascular progenitor cells. Putative vascular progenitor cells would be used to generate biological artificial arteries to treat patients with severe atherosclerosis.