Vascular research using human pluripotent stem cells and humoral factors.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells collected from the inner cell mass of blastocysts. Induced pluripotent stem cells exhibit characteristics and pluripotency similar to ES cells, even though they were generated from adult somatic cells. We have been investigating the vascular differentiation kinetics of human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) and their application to human vascular research and clinical medicine. In this review, we present an overview of recent vascular research using human PSCs, focusing on the role of humoral factors and their receptors. We also discuss possible future application of human PSCs to translational research on human vascular disorders.