Figure 1.

Hypothetical model of the origin and immunophenotypic characteristics of distinct subpopulations of circulating endothelial cells in peripheral blood. Pluripotent stem cells reside in the stem cell niche of the bone marrow and can give rise to "hemangioblasts" that have the capacity to differentiate into hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) or endothelial progenitors (EPC). EPC differentiate into circulating endothelial precursors (CEP) and circulating endothelial cells (CEC). HPC differentiate into myeloid cells such as monocytes, that can transdifferentiate into myeloid EC. Moreover, mature EC shed from the vessel wall can enter the circulation. Various subsets of circulating endothelial cell types have been demonstrated to contribute to tumor angiogenesis.