Jingwen Liu, Zhao Liu,Yuanxiang Li, Tao Zhang, Qingyuan Liu

Department of Abdominal Oncology, Cancer Center, union   Hospital Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan.

Objective：sCEA has been considered a biomarker for cancer development and relapse. Its over-expression inhibits cellular differentiation, blocks cell polarization, distorts tissuearchitecture, and inhibits anoikis of many different cell types. But its rolein tumor angiogenesis has a little research. Here, we establish a method inisolation, culture and identification of EPCs, and study the direct biologicaleffect of sCEA on EPCs. Method：EPCs appears gradually when culturing human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (HUBMCs) in the EGM-2MV medium. Using cell function, tube formation assay to identify EPCs. Using Immunofluorescence to verify CEA binds to EPCs. Using (4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium (MTT), wound-healing, transwell and tube formation assay to study the proliferation, migration, invasion and tube formation capacity of sCEA on EPCs. VEGF as a positive control group. Result：EPCs appears in the 7days and gradually be the main cells in the process of culturing HUBMCs. EPCs is the monolayer of cobblestone appearing cells, which can uptake low-densityli poprotein and bind to lectin, moreover, has greater ability of tube formatin than HUVECs. Immunofluorescence assay shows that CEA binds to EPCs surface through CEA receptor. But CEA did have no effect on EPCs whether proliferation, migration,invasion or tube formation in the manner of time or dose-dependent. However,the VEGF positive control group shows promoting effects. Conclusion：Though CEA can bind EPCsthrough its receptor, but it might not participate in tumor angiogenesis by acting directly on EPCs.

Keywords：Carcinoembryonic Antigen  endothelial progenitor