We describe the method of programming stem cells to overexpress therapeutic factors for angiogenesis using biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles. Processes described include polymer synthesis, transfecting adipose-derived stem cells in vitro, and validating the efficacy of programmed stem cells to promote angiogenesis in a murine hindlimb ischemia model.
Controlled vascular growth is critical for successful tissue regeneration and wound healing, as well as for treating ischemic diseases such as stroke, heart attack or peripheral arterial diseases. Direct delivery of angiogenic growth factors has the potential to stimulate new blood vessel growth, but is often associated with limitations such as lack of targeting and short half-life in vivo. Gene therapy offers an alternative approach by delivering genes encoding angiogenic factors, but often requires using virus, and is limited by safety concerns. Here we describe a recently developed strategy for stimulating vascular growth by programming stem cells to overexpress angiogenic factors in situ using biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles. Specifically our strategy utilized stem cells as delivery vehicles by taking advantage of their ability to migrate toward ischemic tissues in vivo. Using the optimized polymeric vectors, adipose-derived stem cells were modified to overexpress an angiogenic gene encoding vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). We described the processes for polymer synthesis, nanoparticle formation, transfecting stem cells in vitro, as well as methods for validating the efficacy of VEGF-expressing stem cells for promoting angiogenesis in a murine hindlimb ischemia model.
The overall goal of this technique is to promote therapeutic angiogenesis using non-virally programmed stem cells overexpressing therapeutic factors at the site of ischemia. Stem cells were modified ex vivo first using biodegradable nanoparticles synthesized in the lab, and then transplanted in a murine model of hindlimb ischemia to validate their potential for enhancing angiogenesis and tissue salvage.
Controlled vascular growth is an important component of successful tissue regeneration, as well as for treating various ischemic diseases such as stroke, limb ischemia, and myocardial infarction. Several strategies have been developed to promote vascular growth, including growth factor delivery and cell-based therapy.1 Despite the efficacy observed in the animal disease models, these methods still face limitations such as the need for supraphysiological doses for growth factor delivery, or insufficient paracrine release by cells alone. One potential strategy to overcome the above limitations is to combine stem cell therapy and gene therapy, whereby stem cells are genetically programmed ex vivo prior to transplantation to overexpress desirable therapeutic factors. This approach has been demonstrated in various disease models including hindlimb ischemia2, heart disease3, bone healing4 and neural injury5, etc. However, most gene therapy techniques rely on viral vectors, which are associated with safety concerns such as potential immunogenicity and insertional mutagenesis. Biomaterials mediated non-viral gene delivery may overcome these limitations, but often suffer from low transfection efficiency. To speed up the discovery of novel biomaterials for efficient non-viral gene delivery, recent studies have employed combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening approach. Biodegradable polymer libraries such as poly(β-amino esters) (PBAE) have been developed and screened, which led to the discovery of leading polymers with markedly enhanced transfection efficiency compared to the conventional polymeric vector counterparts.6-7
Herein, we describe the synthesis of PBAE and verification of their ability to transfect adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) in vitro, followed by subsequent transplantation of genetically-modified ADSCs overexpressing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in a murine model of hindlimb ischemia. The outcomes were evaluated by tracking cell fate using bioluminescence imaging, assessing tissue reperfusion using laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI), and determining angiogenesis and tissue salvage by histology.
Here we report a method to program adult stem cells to overexpress therapeutic factors using non-viral, biodegradable nanoparticles. This platform is particularly useful for treating diseases where stem cells can naturally home, such as ischemia and cancer.9-10 Furthermore, the non-viral gene delivery platform allows for transient overexpression of therapeutic factors, which is suitable for most tissue regeneration and wound healing processes. The transfection process depends upon efficient DNA entry into cell…
The authors have nothing to disclose.
The authors would like to acknowledge American Heart Association National Scientist Development Grant (10SDG2600001), Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiative Program, and Stanford Medical Scholars Research Program for funding.
Name of the Reagent | Company | Catalogue Number | Comments (optional) |
DMEM | Invitrogen | 11965 | |
Fetal Bovine Serum | Invitrogen | 10082 | |
Penicillin/Streptomycin | Invitrogen | 15070 | |
Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor | Peprotech | 100-18B | |
1,4-Butanediol Diacrylate (90%) | Sigma Aldrich | 411744 | Acronym: C |
5-amino-1-pentanol (97%) | Alfa Aesar | 2508-29-4 | Acronym: 32 |
Tetraethyleneglycoldiamine >99%) | Molecular Biosciences | 17774 | Acronym: 122 |
Sodium Acetate | G-Biosciences | R010 | |
Phosphate Buffered Saline | Invitrogen | 14190-144 | |
Tetrahyofuran Anhydrous (>99.9%) | Sigma Aldrich | 401757 | |
Diethyl Ether Anhydrous (>99%) | Fisher Scientific | E138-4 | |
DMSO Anhydrous (>99.9%) | Sigma Aldrich | 276855 | |
Gelatin | Sigma Aldrich | G9391 | |
Trypsin-EDTA | Invitrogen | 25200 | |
D-luciferin | GoldBio | ||
Optimal Cutting Temperature (O.C.T) | Tissue-Tek | 4583 | |
Rat anti-Mouse CD31 | BD Pharmingen | 550274 | |
Alexa Fluor 594 anti-rat IgG | Invitrogen | A11007 |