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Updated: Jul 7, 2026
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Isolation of Blood-vessel-derived Multipotent Precursors from Human Skeletal Muscle
Published on: August 21, 2014
Human vascular adventitial fibroblasts contain mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells
Ayuko Hoshino1, Haruki Chiba, Kanji Nagai
1Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
|January 31, 2008
Summary
Human vascular adventitia contains mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (MPCs). These cells, identified as human vascular adventitial fibroblasts (hVAFs), exhibit multipotent differentiation capabilities, suggesting their potential in regenerative medicine.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Stem Cell Research
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- The vascular adventitia's role in disease pathogenesis, including atherosclerosis and fibrosis, is increasingly recognized.
- Understanding the cellular components of the adventitia is crucial for developing targeted therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence and characteristics of mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (MPCs) within the human vascular adventitia.
- To evaluate the potential of human vascular adventitial fibroblasts (hVAFs) as a source for stem cell applications.
Main Methods:
- Culturing and characterizing human vascular adventitial fibroblasts (hVAFs) from pulmonary arteries.
- Assessing cell proliferation, surface marker expression (vimentin, collagen type-1, CD29, CD44, CD105), and differentiation potential (osteogenic, adipogenic, myogenic).
Main Results:
- hVAFs demonstrated robust proliferation (doubling time 1.5 days) and extended passaging capacity (average 11 passages), independent of donor age and sex.
- hVAFs expressed key mesenchymal markers and lacked hematopoietic/endothelial markers.
- Demonstrated multipotent differentiation into osteogenic, adipogenic, and myogenic lineages.
Conclusions:
- Human vascular adventitia harbors mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (MPCs).
- hVAFs represent a promising and accessible cell source for stem cell biology research and tissue engineering applications.
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