Vascular gene transfer of SDF-1 promotes endothelial progenitor cell engraftment and enhances angiogenesis in ischemic muscle

Michael A. Kuliszewski, Jeremy Kobulnik, Jonathan R. Lindner, Duncan J. Stewart, Howard Leong-Poi

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    79 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Gene therapy approaches to enhance endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) homing may augment cell engraftment to ischemic tissue and lead to a greater therapeutic response. Therefore, we assessed the effects of ultrasound-mediated (UM) transfection of the chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) on homing and engraftment of intravenously administered EPCs and the subsequent angiogenic response in chronically ischemic skeletal muscle. Bone marrow-derived EPCs were isolated from donor Fisher 344 rats, cultured and labeled in preparation for injection into recipient animals via a jugular vein. Using a model of chronic hindlimb ischemia in rats, we demonstrated that UM destruction of intravenous carrier microbubbles loaded with SDF-1 plasmid DNA resulted in targeted transfection of the vascular endothelium within ischemic muscle and greater local engraftment of EPCs. The combination of SDF-1gene therapy and EPCs lead to the greatest increase in tissue perfusion and microvascular density within ischemic muscle, compared to no treatment or either monotherapy alone. Our results demonstrate that UM transfection of SDF-1 improves EPC targeting to chronically ischemic tissue, enhancing vascular engraftment and leading to a more robust neovascularization response.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)895-902
    Number of pages8
    JournalMolecular Therapy
    Volume19
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    StatePublished - May 2011

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Molecular Medicine
    • Molecular Biology
    • Genetics
    • Pharmacology
    • Drug Discovery

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