Sonic hedgehog promotes endothelial differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells via VEGF-D

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have been proven effective for therapeutic angiogenesis in in-vitro and in-vivo animal experiments and in clinical settings (1-3). The angiogenic properties of BMSCs can be attributed to direct differentiation into endothelial cells (ECs) and the paracrine effect as well (4). It has been reported that only a very small fraction of BMSCs could differentiate into ECs in vitro (3). There have been few studies demonstrating the concrete EC oriented differentiation of MSCs in vivo (5)