Autologous transplantation of EPCs encoding FGF1 gene promotes neovascularization in a porcine model of chronic myocardial ischemia

The functional activities of EPCs were enhanced by sp-FGF1 gene transfer. Transplantation of this gene modified EPCs promoted neovascularization in a porcine model of chronic myocardial ischemia, indicating the therapeutic potential of this cell-based gene therapy strategy for the treatment of ischemic diseases.