Figure 4

Capillary-like structures formed by rat bone marrow-derived EPC. Formation of tubular structures on Matrigel by EPC as a form of organisation characteristic of EC. EPC stimulated with VEGF (50 ng/ml) exhibited more tubular formation and with a particular tendency to multiple links between cell nest (Figure 4B) than observed with the control: hL-MVEC (Figure 4A) However, EPC have the capability to form capillary like structures when seeded at low cell numbers even in the absence of high concentrations of cytokines which suggests their high angiogenic potential. Picture represents a 20× magnification phase contrast microscopic picture (Figure 4C).