Therapeutic angiogenesis induced by human hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) gene in rat myocardial ischemia models

In order to investigate the feasibility of myocardial ischemia gene therapy, we cloned human hepatocyte growth factor gene from human placenta cDNA library by the RT-PCR method. Recombination adenovirus Ad-HGF was constructed by the method of co-transfection and homologous recombination of plasmids in 293 cells. Ad-HGF was amplified in 293 cells and purified through CsCI density gradient centrifugation. Ad-HGF could be expressed in rat primary myocardial cells and HGF secreted into the culture media, which was tested by ELISA. The distribution and persistence of adenovirus in rat were investigated by green fluorescence protein as a report gene. In vivo we found that intramyocardial administration of Ad-HGF could induce angiogenesis in rat myocardium after ligation of coronary artery. The results suggested that Ad-HGF was effective in vitro and in vivo, and the data for designing human trial of gene therapy-mediated cardiac angiogenesis were provided.