Figure 1

Rat peripheral blood-derived EPCs in culture. When peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) were cultured on fibronectin, attached cells (A) and typical morphology (spindle cell shape) of rat EPCs were observed after a few days of culture (B). Culture of MNCs resulted in the emergence of colonies with characteristic spindle-shaped EPCs. The colonies were well-formed after seven days of culture (C,D).