Purification and Long-Term Expansion of Multipotent Endothelial-Like Cells with Potential Cardiovascular Regeneration

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) represent a relatively rare cell population, and expansion of sufficient cell numbers remains a challenge. Nevertheless, human adipose-derived stem cells (hASC) can be easily isolated and possess the ability to differentiate into endothelial cells. Here, we propose the isolation and characterization of multipotent endothelial-like cells (ME-LC) with the capacity to maintain their vascular progenitor properties for long periods. hASC were isolated from lipoaspirates and cultured through distinct consecutive culture stages for 2 months to enrich ME-LC: first in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium–fetal bovine serum (stage I), followed by a stage of culture in absent of fetal bovine serum (stage II), a culture in SFO3 medium (stage III), and, finally, the culture of ME-LC into collagen IV-coated flasks in endothelial growth medium (EGM-2) (stage IV). ME-LC display increased expression levels of endothelial and hematopoietic lineage markers (CD45, KDR, and CXCR4) and EPC mark...