Circulating endothelial cells in vascular disorders: new insights into an old concept
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Updated: Oct 10, 2026
Phenotypic and Functional Characterization of Endothelial Colony Forming Cells Derived from Human Umbilical Cord Blood
Published on: April 13, 2012
1Laboratory of Hematology and Immunology, INSERM EMI 00-19, UFR de Pharmacie, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France. hematim@pharmacie.univ-mrs.fr
Insights
Researchers developed a new method to count circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in blood, aiding in the diagnosis and monitoring of vascular disorders and infectious diseases.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Immunology
- Pathology
Background:
- Endothelial cells play a crucial role in vascular health and disease.
- Investigating endothelial involvement in human pathology is challenging due to limited noninvasive methods and specific markers.
- Circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in peripheral blood offer a direct window into endothelial status.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a method for enumerating circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in human blood.
- To establish CECs as a potential biomarker for vascular injury and disease.
- To explore the diagnostic and prognostic value of CEC enumeration in various clinical conditions.
Main Methods:
- Production of a monoclonal antibody (S-Endo 1) targeting CD146, a specific endothelial cell marker.
- Development of a sensitive immunocapture assay using the S-Endo 1 antibody.
- Quantification of CECs in peripheral blood samples from patients with thrombotic, infectious, or immunological disorders and healthy subjects.
Main Results:
- The S-Endo 1 antibody specifically recognizes human endothelial cells, excluding hematopoietic cells.
- The immunocapture test detected significantly higher numbers of CECs in patients with vascular disorders compared to healthy individuals (< 3/ml).
- Elevated CEC levels were observed in thrombotic, infectious, and immunological conditions.
Conclusions:
- CEC enumeration is a valuable quantitative approach for assessing vascular wall injury.
- CEC counts can aid in the clinical follow-up of vascular disorders and evaluation of therapeutic efficacy.
- CEC analysis offers potential for diagnosing infectious diseases and understanding endothelial cell properties in pathology.
Abstract:
The endothelial contribution to vascular disorders has been widely documented in experimental models. However, its implication in human pathology is difficult to investigate, owing to the paucity of noninvasive methods and of specific endothelial markers. The enumeration of circulating endothelial cells (CEC) released in peripheral blood after vascular injury represents a direct exploration of the endothelium. For this purpose, we have produced a monoclonal antibody (S-Endo 1), which recognizes CD 146, a molecule expressed on all types of human endothelial cells but absent from haemopoietic cells. Using this antibody, we have designed a specific and sensitive immunocapture test, which allowed us to detect high numbers of CEC in thrombotic, infectious or immunological disorders, while CEC were found to be very rare ( < 3/ml) in normal subjects. This quantitative approach using CEC might prove useful as a marker of vascular wall injury. Their enumeration is of interest in the clinical follow-up of vascular disorders, in the evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness or in the direct diagnosis of infectious diseases involving intra-endothelial microbial agents. Furthermore, an immunological and/or functional study of CEC could allow one to assess their procoagulant and proadhesive properties, as well as their viability, opening new perspectives for CEC investigation in vascular pathology.
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