Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Effect of ^6;-nerve growth factor on differentiation of endothelial progenitor cells in rats

Zhong-jing Wang¹, Zi-hui Xu¹, Yu-ming Li², Sheng Ding¹, Cai Cheng¹, Shi Zhao¹

¹Department of Endocrinology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan; ²Department of Endocrinology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, Hubei, China.

For correspondence:- Shi Zhao Email: zhaoshiwh@163.com

Accepted: 24 October 2017 Published: 30 November 2017

Citation: Wang Z, Xu Z, Li Y, Ding S, Cheng C, Zhao S. Effect of ^6;-nerve growth factor on differentiation of endothelial progenitor cells in rats. Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(11):2617-2622 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v16i11.7

© 2017 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of recombinant adenovirus-mediated human β-nerve growth factor (Ad-EGFP-hβ-NGF) on the differentiation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in rats.

Methods: The successfully constructed Ad-EGFP-hβ-NGF and its negative control Ad-EGFP were infected into the isolated and purified rat EPCs to observe their morphological changes. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was conducted to detect the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), von Willebrand factor (vWF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in different rat EPC culture solutions. Western blot was performed to determine the expression of tyrosine kinase receptor A (TrKA) protein in different groups of EPCs.

Results: Primary fibrous EPCs were converted into epithelium-like cells. After infection with Ad-EGFP-hβ-NGF for 1 week, some EPCs became round and exhibited neural stem cell-like changes. The expression levels of VEGF, vWF and bFGF in the Ad-EGFP-hβ-NGF infection group were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.01). TrKA protein in Ad-EGFP-hβ-NGF infection was also significantly up-regulated compared with that in the negative control and blank control groups (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: β-NGF up-regulates the expression of TrKA receptor protein and secretion of angiogenic growth factors (i.e., VEGF, vWF and bFGF), thereby promoting the differentiation of rat EPCs, which may contribute to angiopoiesis or vascular repair.

Keywords: ^6;-Nerve growth factor, Endothelial progenitor cells, Angiogenic growth factors, Tyrosine kinase receptor A, Cell differentiation