Perivascular
cells, including pericytes in the smallest blood vessels (e.g., microvessels) and ARCs around larger ones,
express mesenchymal stem cell markers and bear a multi-differentiation fate potential (differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes, smooth muscle
cells and myocytes) similar to that documented for MSCs in vitro.
On the other hand, ES
cells and
cells differentiating into endoderm and mesoderm lineages from ES
cells express OCT - 4 in mice and humans [66], and SSEA1 expression is found in other type of
cells including neural
stem cells and
mesenchymal stem cells [67], [68].