Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and nerves) bioinspired VEGF supply may be particularly useful to successfully restore
tissue functions. Following a brief overview of VEGF's biology, design attributes for poly-
meric systems for VEGF delivery will be discussed, and subsequently illustrated in the
context of three specific applications: therapeutic angiogenesis, bone regeneration, and
nerve regeneration.
Keywords
Angiogenesis
·
Drug delivery
·
Growth factor
·
Polymer
·
VEGF
Abbreviations
Ang-1 angiopoietin-1
Ang-2 angiopoietin-2
bFGF basic fibroblast growth factor
BMP-2 bone morphogenetic protein-2
3-D three-dimensional
ECM extracellular matrix
G alpha-
L
-guluronic acid
LCST lower critical solution temperature
M beta-
D
-mannuronic acid
MW molecular weight
MMP matrix metalloproteinase
NGF nerve growth factor
NRP neuropilin
PAA poly(a cr y l ic a cid)
PDGF platelet derived growth factor
PEG poly(ethylene glycol)
PEI poly(ethylenimine)
PGA poly(glycolic acid)
PLA poly(lactic acid)
PLGA poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)
PNIPAAm poly(
N
-isopropylacrylamide)
PPE-EA
polyaminoethyl propylene phosphate
RGD
arginine-glycine-aspartic acid
GRGD
glycine-arginine-aspartic acid
T
g
glass transition temperature
TGF-beta
transforming growth factor-beta
VEGF
vascular endothelial growth factor
VEGF-R
vascular endothelial growth factor receptor
VPF
vascular permeability factor
1
Introduction
Growth factor signaling is key to the sequences of events responsible for both
development and regeneration of tissues. Growth factors constitute a com-
plex family of polypeptide molecules exerting versatile biological functions
through specific binding to receptors on the cell surface. They are expressed
by a variety of different cell types to control cellular migration, proliferation,
