Cardiovascular pathology : the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology
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Cardiovasc. Pathol. · Jul 2010
SDF-1alpha involved in mobilization and recruitment of endothelial progenitor cells after arterial injury in mice.
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) can be mobilized by cytokines and recruited to sites of neovascularization and neointima, where they differentiate into mature endothelial cells. It is thought that stromal cell-derived factor-1alpha (SDF-1alpha) is involved in ischemia-mediated mobilization and homing of EPCs and in vascular injury-mediated mobilization and homing of vascular smooth muscle progenitor cells. It is unclear if SDF-1alpha plays a similar role in the mobilization and recruitment of EPCs after vascular injury. ⋯ We demonstrated for the first time that SDF-1alpha plays an important role in reendothelialization after vascular injury in mice. This contribution appears to be attributable to SDF-1alpha-dependent mobilization and recruitment of circulating EPCs.