Outgrowing endothelial and smooth muscle cells for tissue engineering approaches

In recent years, circulating progenitors of endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells were identified in the peripheral blood. In our study, we evaluated the utilization of both cell types isolated and differentiated from peripheral porcine blood in terms for their use for tissue engineering purposes. By means of density gradient centrifugation, the monocyte fraction from porcine blood was separated, split, and cultivated with specific culture media with either endothelial cell growth medium-2 or smooth muscle cell growth medium-2 for the differentiation of endothelial cells or smooth muscle cells. Obtained cells were characterized at an early stage of cultivation before the first passage and a late stage (fourth passage) on the basis of the expression of the antigens CD31, CD34, CD45, nitric oxide synthase, and the contractile filaments smooth-muscle alpha-actin (sm-alpha-actin) and smoothelin. Functional characterization was done based on the secretion of nitric oxide, the formation of a coherent monola...