Cellular morphology of cultured EPCs.

<p>(A) The adherent cells showed irregular shape and began to form clusters 5 days after incubation. (B) A typical “cobblestone” appearance which is the characteristics of an endothelial cell monolayer was found at day 10. (C) Cells passaged 3 times at a ratio of 1∶2 with an average of 7 days of growth showed homogenous spindle shaped morphology. (D) Fluorescence microscopy revealed the uptake of Conjugate <b>1</b> by adherent cells with positive rhodamine signals. (E) These cells were stained positively with FITC-UEA I, DiI-Ac-LDL and other endothelial progenitor cell markers, and showed low expression of endothelial cell marker CD31.