Are Endothelial Progenitor Cells the Real Solution for Cardiovascular Diseases? Focus on Controversies and Perspectives

Figure 4

Angioblast differentiation into mature endothelial cells according to the schema proposed by Hristov and Weber, 2004 [75]. As illustrated in the figure, CD133⁺, CD34⁺, and VEGFR2⁺ (CD309⁺) angioblasts give rise to early EPCs expressing high intensity CD31, CD34, and CD309 markers which differentiate in late outgrowth endothelial cells (OEC)s, having high expression not only of CD34, CD309, and CD31 but also of vWF, E-selectin, VE-cadherin, and eNOs.