[Application of endothelial progenitor cells in vascular tissue engineering]

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are immature endothelial cells which have the capacity to proliferate, migrate and differentiate into mature endothelial cells from bone marrow to the peripheral circulation. EPCs have been shown to participate in postnatal endothelial repair and neovascularization of ischemic organs, and have been used as a new source of seeded cells in vascular tissue engineering. In this review, we focus on the origin, identification, property and function of EPCs as well as their application in vascular tissue engineering.