Fig 4.

Mechanism of ischaemia mobilized cellular components and their interrelationship in neovascularization using baboon femoral artery ligation. After animals were treated, ischaemia was introduced and led to multiple signalling pathway activations, resulting in progenitor mobilizations. Mobilized progenitor cells included haematopoietic stem cells as well as vascular/endothelial stem cells in order to resume local circulation. Several types of endothelial progenitor cells with distinct functionalities might cooperate and orchestrate to provide neovascular blocks (CD146+ subpopulation) as well as proangiogenic environments (CD34+ subpopulation) for progenitor cells to home and grow. The solid lines mean well-accepted mechanisms; the dashed lines mean alternative proposed pathways.