Characterization of Endothelial Colony-Forming Cells (ECFCs).

<p><b>A)</b> Typical cell morphology after at least 9 days of culture, 10x magnification (left) and cell morphology after passaging reveals typical cobble stone appearance of a colony with rapid proliferation (see arrow), and 40x magnification (right). <b>B)</b> ECFC cells from a typical colony were analyzed by flow cytometry and express CD34 and CD31 surface markers and are negative for CD133 and CD45. <b>C)</b> Immunohistochemistry reveals that ECFC cells can take up Ac-LDL and express vWF but not CD14 and CD133.