MicroTissue Transplantation
	There is accumulating evidence that a single growth factor delivered as a protein for a short duration or as gene therapy for a slightly longer duration may not be sufficient for functionally significant angiogenesis. In addition, cellular based therapies for angiogenesis and myogenesis have been limited by poor cell survival when implanted in an artificial milieu. Rather the local presence of multiple angiogenic cytokines for a more prolonged time may be necessary for the complex process of angiogenesis to begin and be maintained. Cell based therapy (bone marrow derived cells, stem cells, myoblasts) have been proposed as a strategy to enable longer term expression of multiple cytokines, however, cells administered into the myocardium may lack the infrastructure, “milieu” needed for effective cell-to-cell interaction and differentiation. Micro-Tissue (MT) transplantation promises to be a novel treatment modalitiy that promises to deliver what is needed, for however long it is needed, and in a viable microenvironment. The Angiogenesis Research Center has recently received a grant from the prestigious BIRD Foundation to study this promising treatment modality.

The angiogenesis research center has initiated the final preclinical study of microtissue transplantation for angiogenesis. Shown here is a high resolution MRI image of the ameroid constrictor around the left circumflex artery. The use of MRI enable a better assessment of the functional benefit of the tested strategy by measuring left ventricular function, regional wall motion and thickening, myocardial perfusion, as well as novel outcome measures. This coupled with angiography, microsphere blood flow measurement, ultrasonic crystals, microvessel and endothelial function assessment, and molecular markers add to the certainty and reliability of this model.