Macrophages overexpressing VEGF, transdifferentiate into endothelial-like cells in vitro and in vivo

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces endothelial cell differentiation. To investigate the role of VEGF overexpression in regulating the phenotype of macrophages, we transfected mouse macrophages with human VEGF(165) and examined the expression of the genes and proteins for various endothelial markers. Macrophages overexpressing VEGF significantly expressed fetal liver kinase 1 (FLK-1), vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin), CD31, Von Willebrand factor (vWF), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and CD105. Furthermore, in a model of myocardial infarction (MI), macrophages overexpressing VEGF incorporated into blood vessels. Thus macrophages overexpressing VEGF were transdifferentiate into endothelial-like cells (ELCs) both in vitro and in vivo.