Abstract
As a promising concept for regeneration medicine, endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) therapy represents a novel strategy for a variety of diseases. Increasing evidence suggests that the spleen, a traditionally dispensable organ, acts as a major reservoir during EPC trafficking and plays an important role regarding the modulation of circulating EPC kinetics. Moreover, infusion of splenic EPC can restore endothelial function and promote neovascularization, indicating an available resource for EPC transplantation. Thus a discussion of the role of the spleen with respect to EPC may provide novel information for management of EPC therapy.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO.30470729), Foundation of Third Military Medical University (NO.20070159) and Military Eleventh and Five Science Foundation (NO.06J013). Thanks to Dr T. Fitzgibbon for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. We apologize that we could not cite many of the important publications in the field because of space limitations.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.