Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are a promising source of endothelial cells (ECs) for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Since clinical application of embryo stem cells (ESCs) involves issues of medical ethics and risk of immune rejection, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) will facilitate cell transplantation therapy for the cardiovascular diseases. Swine is identified as an ideal large-animal model for human, because of its similar organ size and physiological characteristics. However, there are very few studies on EC differentiation of porcine iPSCs (piPSCs). In recent study, we provided an efficient protocol to differentiate piPSCs into ECs with the purity of 19.76% CD31 positive cells within 16 days. Passaging of these cells yielded a nearly pure population, which also expressed other endothelial markers such as CD144, eNOS and vWF. Besides, these cells exhibited functions of ECs such as uptake of low-density lipoprotein and formation of tubes in vitro or blood vessels in vivo. Our study successfully obtained ECs from piPSCs via a feeder- and serum-free monolayer system and demonstrated their angiogenic function in vivo and in vitro. piPSC-ECs derivation is not only potential for the autologous cell transplantation and cardiovascular drug screening, but also for the mechanistic studies on EC differentiation and endothelial dysfunction.

多能干细胞 (PSCs) 是用于治疗心血管疾病的内皮细胞 (ECs) 的有前途的来源。由于胚胎干细胞（ESCs）的临床应用涉及医学伦理问题和免疫排斥风险，诱导多能干细胞（iPSCs）将促进心血管疾病的细胞移植治疗。猪被认为是人类理想的大型动物模型，因为其器官大小和生理特征相似。然而，关于猪 iPSCs (piPSCs) 的 EC 分化的研究很少。在最近的研究中，我们提供了一种有效的方案，可在 16 天内将 piPSC 分化为纯度为 19.76% CD31 阳性细胞的 EC。这些细胞的传代产生了几乎纯的群体，其还表达其他内皮标记物，如 CD144、eNOS 和 vWF。此外，这些细胞表现出ECs的功能，例如摄取低密度脂蛋白和在体外形成管或在体内形成血管。我们的研究通过无饲养层和无血清单层系统成功地从 piPSC 中获得了 EC，并在体内和体外证明了它们的血管生成功能。piPSC-ECs的衍生不仅具有用于自体细胞移植和心血管药物筛选的潜力，而且还用于EC分化和内皮功能障碍的机制研究。