Kallikrein gene-modified EPCs induce angiogenesis in rats with ischemic hindlimb and correlate with integrin αvβ3 expression.

Background: Human tissue kallikrein (hTK) plays an essential role in the physiological and pathological mechanisms of blood vessels. This study aimed to determine whether angiogenesis induced by endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) transduced with the adenovirus-mediated hTK gene could improve blood flow in rat hindlimb ischemia in vivo and to establish a promising mechanism in vitro.

Methods: EPCs transduced with adenovirus encoding hTK-162 (i.