High Density Lipoprotein Based Delivery of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Protein for Myocardial Ischemia Therapy

Abstract

A high density lipoprotein (HDL) based protein delivery system composed of HDL, polyethyleneimine (PEI) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein was constructed (HDL/PEI/VEGF) was fabricated as an advanced system for myocardial ischemia therapy. Here, PEI was utilized to effectively adsorb VEGF protein, followed by additional functioning of targeting protein HDL. The HDL/PEI/VEGF was shown to have size of 100 nm. Cellular distribution and uptake experiments of HDL/PEI/VEGF revealed the possible Scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI) mediated delivery of VEGF protein. In addition, in vitro cytotoxicity and ELISA assays on H9C2 cells further revealed high intracellular delivery of VEGF. Moreover, in vivo investigation on ischemia/reperfusion rat model implied that HDL/PEI/VEGF possessed strong therapeutic activity. These findings indicated that HDL/PEI/VEGF could be an ideal system for the therapy of myocardial ischemia.