Tissue-specific endothelial cells: a promising approach for augmentation of soft tissue repair in orthopedics

Biologics are playing an increasingly significant role in the practice of modern medicine and surgery in general and orthopedics in particular. Cell-based approaches are among the most important and widely used modalities in orthopedic biologics, with mesenchymal stem cells and other multi/pluripotent cells undergoing evaluation in numerous preclinical and clinical studies. On the other hand, fully differentiated endothelial cells (ECs) have been found to perform critical roles in homeostasis of visceral tissues through production of an adaptive panel of so-called "angiocrine factors." This newly discovered function of ECs renders them excellent candidates for novel approaches in cell-based biologics. Here, we present a review of the role of ECs and angiocrine factors in some visceral tissues, followed by an overview of current cell-based approaches and a discussion of the potential applications of ECs in soft tissue repair.