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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2021; 9(35): 10765-10780
Published online Dec 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i35.10765
Application of vascular endothelial cells in stem cell medicine
Qing-Qing Liang, Lei Liu
Qing-Qing Liang, Lei Liu, State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Liang QQ contributed to the literature review, and drafting and writing this paper as the first author; Liu L contributed to the revision and editing of the manuscript; and both authors gave approval to the final version to be submitted.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81670951.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no potential conflicts of interest to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lei Liu, MD, PhD, Professor, State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, 14, Section 3, Renminnan Road, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. drliulei@163.com
Received: May 31, 2021
Peer-review started: May 31, 2021
First decision: June 23, 2021
Revised: July 2, 2021
Accepted: October 27, 2021
Article in press: October 27, 2021
Published online: December 16, 2021
Processing time: 192 Days and 21.7 Hours
Abstract

Stem cell medicine is gaining momentum in the development of therapy for various end-stage diseases. The search for new seed cells and exploration of their application prospects are topics of interest in stem cell medicine. In recent years, vascular endothelial cells (VECs) have attracted wide attention from scholars. VECs, which form the inner lining of blood vessels, are critically involved in many physiological functions, including permeability, angiogenesis, blood pressure regulation, immunity, and pathological development, such as atherosclerosis and malignant tumors. VECs have significant therapeutic effects and broad application prospects in stem cell medicine for the treatment of various refractory diseases, including atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, diabetic complications, hypertension, coronavirus disease 2019, and malignant tumors. On the one hand, VECs and their extracellular vesicles can be directly used for the treatment of these diseases. On the other hand, VECs can be used as therapeutic targets for some diseases. However, there are still some obstacles to the use of VECs in stem cell medicine. In this review, advances in the applications and challenges that come with the use of these cells are discussed.

Keywords: Vascular endothelial cells; Stem cell medicine; Angiogenesis; Atherosclerosis; Tissue defects; Refractory diseases

Core Tip: Vascular endothelial cells (VECs) are involved in several physiological and pathological processes, including angiogenesis, control of blood pressure, and treatment-resistant diseases. Therefore, researchers have applied VECs in stem cell medicine and achieved beneficial results, demonstrating that these cells have a broad potential for application in many fields. This review discusses the functions, applications, and challenges of VECs.