Effect of Intramyocardial Administration of Baculovirus Encoding the Transcription Factor Tbx20 in Sheep With Experimental Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Background: Gene therapy has been proposed as a strategy to induce cardiac regeneration following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Given that Tbx20, a transcription factor of the T-box subfamily, stimulates cell proliferation and angiogenesis, we designed a baculovirus overexpressing (Bv-Tbx20) and evaluated its effects in cultured cardiomyocytes and in an ovine model of AMI.

Methods And Results: Cell proliferation and angiogenesis were measured in cardiomyocytes transduced with Bv-Tbx20 or Bv-Null (control).

Promoting early neovascularization by allotransplanted adipose-derived Muse cells in an ovine model of acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Recent preclinical studies have demonstrated that bone marrow (BM)-derived Muse cells have a homing mechanism to reach damaged cardiac tissue while also being able to reduce myocardial infarct size and improve cardiac function; however, the potential of BM-Muse cells to foster new blood-vessel formation has not been fully assessed. Up to date, adipose tissue (AT)-derived Muse cells remain to be studied in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The aim of the present study was to analyze in vitro and in vivo the neovascularization capacity of AT-Muse cells while exploring their biodistribution and differentiation potential in a translational ovine model of AMI.

In silico performance analysis of web tools for CRISPRa sgRNA design in human genes.

Angiogenic gene overexpression has been the main strategy in numerous vascular regenerative gene therapy projects. However, most have failed in clinical trials. CRISPRa technology enhances gene overexpression levels based on the identification of sgRNAs with maximum efficiency and safety.

Gene Therapy: Targeting Cardiomyocyte Proliferation to Repopulate the Ischemic Heart.

Adult mammalian cardiomyocytes show scarce division ability, which makes the heart ineffective in replacing lost contractile cells after ischemic cardiomyopathy. In the past decades, there have been increasing efforts in the search for novel strategies to regenerate the injured myocardium. Among them, gene therapy is one of the most promising ones, based on recent and emerging studies that support the fact that functional cardiomyocyte regeneration can be accomplished by the stimulation and enhancement of the endogenous ability of these cells to achieve cell division.

Effect of intramuscular baculovirus encoding mutant hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha on neovasculogenesis and ischemic muscle protection in rabbits with peripheral arterial disease.

Background Aims: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a progressive, disabling ailment for which no effective treatment exists. Gene therapy-mediated neovascularization has emerged as a potentially useful strategy. We tested the angiogenic and arteriogenic efficacy and safety of a baculovirus (BV) encoding mutant, oxygen-resistant hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (mHIF-1α), in rabbits with PAD.