FIG. 2.

Assessment of AFSC-derived endothelial cells (AFSC-EC). (A) Schematic of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-mediated differentiation of c-kit⁺ AFSC into AFSC-EC. (B) Flow cytometry analysis of AFSC-EC showed significant expression of constitutive endothelial proteins such as CD31, VE-cadherin, and VEGFR2, although did not show a complete reduction in the stem cell markers SSEA4, c-kit, or CD44. Differentiated cells were negative for the immunological marker HLA-DR and positive for HLA-ABC. Additionally, a population of CD31⁺ cells (16.4%) was also positive for both VE-cadherin and VEGFR2 (bottom right panel). (C) Fluorescence imaging of two-dimensional network formation of AFSC-EC when plated on a thin Matrigel film. Actin filaments were labeled with phalloidin (green) and nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar is 100 μm. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea