Evaluation of mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ cells from patients with severe coronary artery disease as a source of endothelial progenitor cells

Background aims The distinction between hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) is poorly defined. Co-expression of CD34 antigen with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor (VEGFR2) is currently used to define EPC (1).