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Generation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Endothelial Cells and Their Therapeutic Utility

  • Regenerative Medicine (SM Wu, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Cardiology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Human pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells (hPSC-ECs) emerged as an important source of cells for cardiovascular regeneration. This review summarizes protocols for generating hPSC-ECs and provides an overview of the current state of the research in clinical application of hPSC-derived ECs.

Recent Findings

Various systems were developed for differentiating hPSCs into the EC lineage. Stepwise two-dimensional systems are now well established, in which various growth factors, small molecules, and coating materials are used at specific developmental stages. Moreover, studies made significant advances in clinical applicability of hPSC-ECs by removing undefined components from the differentiation system, improving the differentiation efficiency, and proving their direct vascular incorporating effects, which contrast with adult stem cells and their therapeutic effects in vivo. Finally, by using biomaterial-mediated delivery, investigators improved the survival of hPSC-ECs to more than 10 months in ischemic tissues and described long-term behavior and safety of in vivo transplanted hPSC-ECs at the histological level.

Summary

hPSC-derived ECs can be as a critical source of cells for treating advanced cardiovascular diseases. Over the past two decades, substantial improvement has been made in the differentiation systems and their clinical compatibility. In the near future, establishment of fully defined differentiation systems and proof of the advantages of biomaterial-mediated cell delivery, with some additional pre-clinical studies, will move this therapy into a vital option for treating those diseases that cannot be managed by currently available therapies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (No. HI16C2211 and HI15C2782), the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Korean government (No. 2015M3A9C6031514 and 2016R1D1A1B03933154), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) (No. DP3-DK094346 and DP3-DK108245), and the National Heart, Lung, PHS Grant UL1TR000454 from Clinical and Translational Science Award Program, National Institutes of Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) (No. R01HL127759 and R01HL129511).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Science Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Shin-Jeong Lee & Young-sup Yoon

  2. From the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, 101 Woodruff Circle. WMB 3309, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Kyung Hee Kim & Young-sup Yoon

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  1. Shin-Jeong Lee
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Correspondence to Young-sup Yoon.

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Shin-Jeong Lee, Kyung Hee Kim, and Young-sup Yoon declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Regenerative Medicine

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Lee, SJ., Kim, K.H. & Yoon, Ys. Generation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Endothelial Cells and Their Therapeutic Utility. Curr Cardiol Rep 20, 45 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-018-0985-8

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