BioProject

Background: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a fundamental role in post-natal vascular repair, yet EPCs from different anatomic locations possess unique biological properties. More...

Background: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a fundamental role in post-natal vascular repair, yet EPCs from different anatomic locations possess unique biological properties. The underlying mechanisms are unclear. Method: We performed transcriptome analysis for EPCs isolated from 2 different sources: cord blood (CB) or adult peripheral blood (PB). Both gene expression microarray and small RNA sequencing (smRNA-seq) technologies were applied. Results: EPCs from CB expressed abundant genes involved in cell cycle, hypoxia signalling and blood vessel development, correlating with the phenotypes that CB-EPCs proliferated more rapidly, migrated faster, and formed tubule structure more efficiently. smRNA-seq further deciphered miRNome patterns in EPCs isolated from CB or PB: 54 miRNAs were enriched in CB-EPCs, while another 50 in PB-EPCs. Specifically, CB-EPCs expressed more angiogenic miRNAs such as miR-31, while PB-EPCs possessed more tumor suppressive miRNAs including miR-10a. Knocking down miR-31 levels in CB-EPCs suppressed cell migration and microtubule formation, while overexpressing miR-31 in PB-EPCs helped to recapitulate some of CB-EPC functions. Conclusion: Our results show the foundation for a more detailed understanding of EPCs from different anatomic sources. Stimulating the expression of angiogenic microRNAs or genes in EPCs of low activity (such as those from patients with cardiovascular diseases) might allow the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Overall design: EPC from cord blood or peripheral blood that outgrown after 2-4 week culture were collected. The RNA are extracted and profiled by Affymetrix GeneChip U133 plus 2.0 expression array. This submission represents gene expression microarray component of study. Less...