Transcriptional and functional profiling identifies inflammation and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition as potential drivers for phenotypic heterogeneity within a cohort of endothelial colony forming cells

Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) derived from patients can be used to investigate pathogenic mechanisms of vascular diseases like von Willebrand disease. Considerable phenotypic heterogeneity has been observed between ECFC clones derived from healthy donors. This heterogeneity needs to be well understood in order to use ECFCs as endothelial models for disease.