Abstract

Closed vascular injuries have danger of developing critical tissue ischemia with a high risk of amputation and limb loss. However, limited effective strategies exist at present. In this study, we investigate the role of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells (VECs). First, apoptosis of VECs was induced by hypoxia treatment with or without HGF. Annexin V-7AAD apoptosis assay revealed that HGF overexpression significantly reduced VEC apoptosis. Then a closed peripheral vascular injury animal model was created by balloon catheter in female New Zealand rabbit. The VECs overexpressing HGF were injected into balloon injury rabbit. TUNEL and caspase 3 staining assays revealed that balloon catheter-treated artery showed severe intimal hyperplasia, with a 70% apoptosis rate (P < 0.05, vs. sham group), while HGF-overexpressing group showed a significant reduction of apoptosis. Furthermore, the expressions of Fas/FasL and their downstream apoptosis-related proteins were significantly decreased in HGF-overexpressing group when compared with those in balloon injury group as detected by western blot analysis. All these data indicated that HGF exhibited anti-apoptotic effects during VEC apoptosis, which might be mediated by the inhibition of Fas/FasL pathway. Our study provides a theoretic basis for the application of HGF in the gene therapy of closed peripheral vascular injury.