The promotion of endothelial progenitor cells recruitment by nerve growth factors in tissue-engineered blood vessels.
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) mobilization and homing are critical to the development of an anti-thrombosis and anti-stenosis tissue-engineered blood vessel. The growth and activation of blood vessels are supported by nerves. We investigated whether nerve growth factors (NGF) can promote EPCs mobilization and endothelialization of tissue-engineered blood vessels. In vitro, NGF promoted EPCs to form more colonies, stimulated human EPCs to differentiate into endothelial cells, and significantly enhanced EPCs migration. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that NGF treatment increased the number of EPCs in the peripheral circulation of C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, the treatment of human EPCs with NGF facilitated their homing into wire-injured carotid arteries after injection into mice. Decellularized rat blood vessel matrix was incubated with EDC cross-linked collagen and bound to NGF protein using the bifunctional coupling agent N-succinmidyl3-(2-pyridyldit-hio) propionate (SPDP). The NGF-bound tissue-engineered blood vessel was implanted into rat carotid artery for 1 week and 1 month. NGF-bound blood vessels possessed significantly higher levels of endothelialization and patency than controls did. These results demonstrated that NGF can markedly increase EPCs mobilization and homing to vascular grafts. Neurotrophic factors such as NGF have a therapeutic potential for the construction of tissue-engineered blood vessels in vivo.
Zeng
Wen
W
Department of Anatomy, Key Lab for Biomechanics of Chongqing, Third Military Medical University, Gao Tan Yan Street, Shaping Ba District, Chongqing 400038, China.
Yuan
Wei
W
Li
Li
L
Mi
Jianhong
J
Xu
Shangcheng
S
Wen
Can
C
Zhou
Zhenhua
Z
Xiong
Jiaqiang
J
Sun
Jiansen
J
Ying
Dajun
D
Yang
Mingcan
M
Li
Xiaosong
X
Zhu
Chuhong
C
D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000637:transplantation; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000637:transplantation; D019650:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
D015415:Biomarkers; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors