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Updated: Nov 25, 2025
Programming Stem Cells for Therapeutic Angiogenesis Using Biodegradable Polymeric Nanoparticles
Published on: September 27, 2013
Bimodal Imaging-Visible Nanomedicine Integrating CXCR4 and VEGFa Genes Directs Synergistic Reendothelialization of
Bingbo Yu1, Bing Dong1, Jiang He1
1Department of Hypertension and Vascular Disease The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University National-Guangdong Joint Engineering Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Vascular Diseases Key Laboratory on Assisted Circulation Ministry of Health Guangzhou 510080 China.
Abstract:
A major challenge to treat vascular endothelial injury is the restoration of endothelium integrity in which endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) plays a central role. Transplantation of EPCs as a promising therapeutic means is subject to two interrelated processes, homing and differentiation of EPCs in vivo, and thus a lack of either one may greatly affect the outcome of EPC-based therapy. Herein, a polymeric nanocarrier is applied for the codelivery of CXCR4 and VEGFa genes to simultaneously promote the migration and differentiation of EPCs. Moreover, MRI T2 contrast agent SPION and NIR dye Cy7.5 are also loaded into the nanocarrier in order to track EPCs in vivo. Based on the synergistic effect of the two codelivered genes, an improved reendothelialization of EPCs is achieved in a rat carotid denuded model. The results show the potential of this bimodal imaging-visible nanomedicine to improve the performance of EPCs in repairing arterial injury, which may push forward the stem cell-based therapy of cardiovascular disease.
