Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROTRAUMA
Volume 27, Issue 11, Pages 2067-2076Publisher
MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC
DOI: 10.1089/neu.2010.1403
Keywords
angiopoietin-1; magnetic resonance imaging; traumatic spinal cord injury; vascular endothelial growth factor; viral mediated transfection
Funding
- NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) [NS045624]
- NIH/National Center for Research Resources [S10 RR17205-01]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in immediate disruption of the spinal vascular network, triggering an ischemic environment and initiating secondary degeneration. Promoting angiogenesis and vascular stability through the induction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1), respectively, provides a possible therapeutic approach in treating SCI. We examined whether supplementing the injured environment with these two factors, which are significantly reduced following injury, has an effect on lesion size and functional outcome. Sustained delivery of both VEGF(165) and Ang-1 was realized using viral vectors based on the adeno-associated virus (AAV), which were injected directly into the lesion epicenter immediately after injury. Our results indicate that the combined treatment with VEGF and Ang-1 resulted in both reduced hyperintense lesion volume and vascular stabilization, as determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Western blot analysis indicated that the viral vector expression was maintained into the chronic phase of injury, and that the use of the AAV vectors did not exacerbate infiltration of microglia into the lesion epicenter. The combined treatment with AAV-VEGF and AAV-Ang-1 improved locomotor recovery in the chronic phase of injury. These results indicate that combining angiogenesis with vascular stabilization may have potential therapeutic applications following SCI.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available