VEGF gene transfected umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells transplantation improve the lower limb vascular lesions of diabetic rats

Abstract Background Previous studies had explored the therapeutic effect of hUC-MSCs transplantation on ischemia; in this study, we further assessed the effectiveness of VEGF over-expressed hUC-MSCs cells transplantation on vascular proliferation in lower limb ischemia model in type 2 diabetic rats. Methods hUC-MSCs cells were over-expressed with VEGF, and transplanted to lower limb ischemia rats model of type 2 diabetes. Results VEGF over-expression increased the hUC-MSCs cells proliferation activity and VEGF secretion. VEGF gene transfected hUC-MSCs transplantation increased VEGF expression at a high level throughout 4 weeks in skeletal muscle tissues of rats. Importantly, the vascular proliferation and blood perfusion of VEGF over-expressed hUC-MSCs transplanted limb were significantly improved compared with those of control group. The expression levels of ERK, AKT, MMP2 and MMP9 in VEGF over-expressed hUC-MSCs transplantation group increased dramatically compared with control group, while TIMP1 and TIMP2 expression had no significant change. Conclusion VEGF over-expressed hUC-MSCs transplantation was more effective to stimulate angiogenesis and increase blood perfusion than the simply hUC-MSCs transplantation, as maybe a new choice to improve the lower limb vascular lesions of diabetics.