¹Center for Molecular Medicine, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Scarborough, ME, USA

Correspondence: Dr ZZ Wang, Center for Molecular Medicine, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, 81 Research Drive, Scarborough, ME 04074, USA. E-mail: wangz@mmc.org

Received 27 April 2007; Revised 13 June 2007; Accepted 1 July 2007; Published online 16 August 2007.

Abstract

Pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) differentiate into most of the cell types of the adult human body, including vascular cells. Vascular cells, such as endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are significant contributors to tissue repair and regeneration. In addition to their potential applications for treatment of vascular diseases and stimulation of ischemic tissue growth, it is also possible that endothelial cells and SMCs derived from hESCs can be used to engineer artificial vessels to repair damaged vessels and form vessel networks in engineered tissues. Here we review the current status of directing hESCs to differentiate to vascular cells.