Abstract 324: RAGE Deficiency Contributes to Increased Induction of Angiogenesis in Hindlimb Ischemia in Diabetic Mice by Modulation of Hypoxia- and Inflammatory Dependent Gene Expression

People with diabetes are at higher risk of developing ischemic vascular disease, including peripheral artery disease (PAD). Prior studies highlighted the importance of midkine for induction of angiogenesis associated with vascular repair process in the hindlimb ischemia model and suggested that the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) pathway may be involved in midkine expression in human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), monocytes and endothelial cells under hypoxia. Our previous data showed that genetic deletion of receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) improved restoration of angiogenesis and blood flow in hindlimb ischemia in diabetic mice. Here, we tested the hypothesis that RAGE deficiency would upregulate expression of certain genes responsible for the coordination of inflammatory response and angiogenesis in hindlimb ischemia in diabetic mice. Wild type (WT) and RAGE-/- mice were rendered diabetic (D) with streptozotocin (stz); non-diabetic (ND) cohorts were treated with buffer alone. Aft...