Figure 1

Endothelial progenitor cells/circulating angiogenic cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus are unable to differentiate into mature endothelial cells in culture. Photomicrographs of primary blood mononuclear cells from a healthy control (left) and a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (right) after 2 weeks of culture in proangiogenic media on fibronectin-coated plates. Cells were imaged via inverted phase microscopy at a total magnification of 100×. Photomicrographs by Seth G Thacker.