Table 1.

Stem cells for tissue engineering of blood vessel, their advantages and disadvantages.

Cells	Advantages	Disadvantages	References
Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs)	(i) self-renewal capacity (ii) long-term viability (iii) pluripotent	(i) low frequencies of existence (ii) time-consuming expansion (iii) harvesting complications	[44]
ASCs (adipose-derived stem cells)	(i) superior multi-differentiation potential (ii) easily acquired with minimally invasive technique (iii) have lower donor-site morbidity (iv) abundant and practical (v) rapid in vitro expansion (vi) multipotency is independent of the donor's age (vii) secrete several angiogenesis-related factors and therefore induce angiogenesis	(i) susceptible to apoptosis during isolation (ii) cell expansion requires growth factors	[45–51]
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs)	(i) pluripotent (ii) may differentiate to SMC	(i) low induction efficiency (ii) low smooth muscle cell (SMC) purity	[43, 52]
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs)	(i) have exponential proliferation rate (ii) involved in hemostasis, angiogenesis, and arterial injury and endothelium repair (iii) can be evaluated in vivo in Baboon model (iv) promote neovascularization in ischemic tissue, coating of vascular grafts, seeding hybrid grafts (v) can be harvested prenatally and noninvasively	(i) unknown in vivo EPC differentiation and migration signals and homing to the sites of injured endothelium or extravascular area (ii) EPCs from high risk cardiovascular patients have higher rates of in vitro senescence	[53–62]
Bone marrow cells (BMCs)	(i) readily accessible autologous cell source (ii) BMC aspiration is less invasive and associated with much lower morbidity at the donor sites (iii) have the potential to regenerate vascular tissues (iv) improve patency in tissue-engineered small-diameter vascular grafts	(i) may induce calcification and thrombus formation	[63, 64]
Human artery-derived fibroblast (HAFs)	(i) promotes enhanced ECM formation and maturation		[39]
Human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVEC)	(i) important in endothelialization after transplantation (ii) prevent platelet adhesion (iii) largely and routinely cultured from a readily available supply of discarded tissue (iv) have reproducible and enhanced angiogenesis capacity (in vitro)	(i) time-consuming isolation (ii) cell culture includes risk of infection and requires exogenous growth factor (iii) low proliferative capacity	[39, 65, 66]