Progenitor cells from arterial and venous blood

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Isolation of progenitor cell populations from arterial and venous blood

• IRAS ID

  117327

• Contact name

  Mark Harbinson

• Contact email

  m.harbinson@qub.ac.uk

• Research summary

  Ischaemic diseases such as peripheral artery disease, ischaemic eye disease, and coronary heart disease due to narrowing of the feeding arteries, lead to reduced oxygen supply to tissues and can result in cell damage and cell death if the underlying problem is not corrected. These diseases are a major issue in medicine as they affect millions of people and represent a considerable economic cost to healthcare systems worldwide. Treating such diseases remains very difficult and several different approaches have been used. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the therapeutic potential of using a cell-based approach to treat ischaemic diseases. In vascular medicine, various stem cells and progenitors have been highlighted as having a beneficial role in ischaemic tissues. Two promising progenitor cell types are endothelial progenitor cell (EPCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).
  EPCs are a specialised type of adult progenitor cell that has been shown to play a major role in promoting vessel regrowth and vascular repair in various ischaemic tissues and represent an important candidate for a cell therapy approach. MSCs are also an important adult stem cell as they are considered to be crucial for providing structural support for new vessel formation. Both EPCs and MSCs can be isolated from peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood. However, because these progenitor cells are such rare cells in blood, in our experience it is very difficult to isolate them in high numbers from peripheral blood. Arterial blood may represent a much richer source of EPCs and MSCs. Increasing our isolation efficiency of these cells is a critical aspect to this project as we would like to use these cells as a future cell therapy to help patients suffering from ischaemic diseases.

• REC name

  West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  14/WM/1037

• Date of REC Opinion

  30 Jun 2014

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion