Fig 1. QQ culture conditioning increased definitive EPC-CFU in vitro.

(A) Schematic flowchart of the in vitro protocol. (B) Comparison of EPC-CFU frequency between freshly isolated PBMNCs vs. QQMNCs showed that EPC-CFU counts were higher in QQMNCs (C) Comparison of the number of EPC colonies (initially seeded cells = 1.5x10⁵ cells/well) with and without QQ culturing, showed that DEPC colony number was increased in QQMNCs (D) Definitive EPC colonies showed “tube-like” structures (indicated by white arrows) in vitro. Statistical significance was determined using Mann-Whitney test. Results are presented as mean ± SEM. Abbreviations: EPC-CFU, endothelial progenitor cells colony-forming units; PBMNCs, peripheral blood mononuclear cells; QQMNCs quality and quantity control culture of mononuclear cells; DEPC, definitive EPC; PEPC, primitive EPC.