Engineering cell-based patches as controlled VEGF-releasing devices for therapeutic angiogenesis

An adequate reperfusion of the infarcted tissue remains a formidable challenge in the management of myocardial infarction. The concept of inducing angiogenesis for a therapeutic purpose aims at meeting this specific clinical need. for over 15 years direct delivery of VEGF by a gene therapy approach has been the most investigated strategy and, although promising, presents still major limitations, due to the inefficiency of current transgene vectors in guaranteeing adequate and sustained expression levels of the VEGF triggering safe, mature and stable angiogenesis. In this thesis we investigated the use of engineered tissues as VEGF delivery system to trigger an efficient pro-angiogenic signal able to induce a safe and mature vasculature.