177
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018
S. Gerecht (ed.), Biophysical Regulation of Vascular Differentiation and
Assembly, Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99319-5_7
Chapter 7
Pro-Angiogenic Regenerative Therapies
for the Damaged Brain: A Tissue
Engineering Approach
Lina R. Nih, Stanley T. Carmichael, and Tatiana Segura
7.1 Introduction
According to the American Heart Association, 15 million people suffer ischemic
stroke worldwide each year [5]. Of these, five million die and five million are permanently disabled. These sobering statistics demonstrate stroke’s global impact and
emphasize the importance of deepening our understanding in order to design efficient treatments. To date, the overwhelming majority of brain repair research
focuses on developing therapies that promote tissue repair through neuronal replacement with neuronal-derived progenitor cell transplantation or pro-neuronal drugs
administration [23]. However, extensive and unsuccessful clinical trials show that
this approach does not lead to long-term development of all brain cell types or the
establishment of functional interactions between the different networks. Both
experimental and clinical studies have reported that angiogenesis and neurogenesis
in the ischemic brain work in tandem [26] and that enhanced vessel formation and
restored perfusion after stroke reduces the severity of damage [31], promotes tissue
repair [24], and significantly extends survival of stroke patients [20]. Therefore,
developing pro-angiogenic regenerative therapies offers tremendous potential in
stroke treatment. Preclinical studies using provascular growth factor and progenitor
cells show promising results in enhancing revascularization and tissue repair after
stroke. The therapeutic outcome, however, is often limited by poor survival of
L. R. Nih (*) · S. T. Carmichael
Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine,
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
e-mail: lnih@ucla.edu; Scarmichael@mednet.ucla.edu
T. Segura (*)
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Neurology, Dermatology, Pratt School of
Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
e-mail: tatiana.segura@duke.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018
S. Gerecht (ed.), Biophysical Regulation of Vascular Differentiation and
Assembly, Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99319-5_7
Chapter 7
Pro-Angiogenic Regenerative Therapies
for the Damaged Brain: A Tissue
Engineering Approach
Lina R. Nih, Stanley T. Carmichael, and Tatiana Segura
7.1 Introduction
According to the American Heart Association, 15 million people suffer ischemic
stroke worldwide each year [5]. Of these, five million die and five million are permanently disabled. These sobering statistics demonstrate stroke’s global impact and
emphasize the importance of deepening our understanding in order to design efficient treatments. To date, the overwhelming majority of brain repair research
focuses on developing therapies that promote tissue repair through neuronal replacement with neuronal-derived progenitor cell transplantation or pro-neuronal drugs
administration [23]. However, extensive and unsuccessful clinical trials show that
this approach does not lead to long-term development of all brain cell types or the
establishment of functional interactions between the different networks. Both
experimental and clinical studies have reported that angiogenesis and neurogenesis
in the ischemic brain work in tandem [26] and that enhanced vessel formation and
restored perfusion after stroke reduces the severity of damage [31], promotes tissue
repair [24], and significantly extends survival of stroke patients [20]. Therefore,
developing pro-angiogenic regenerative therapies offers tremendous potential in
stroke treatment. Preclinical studies using provascular growth factor and progenitor
cells show promising results in enhancing revascularization and tissue repair after
stroke. The therapeutic outcome, however, is often limited by poor survival of
L. R. Nih (*) · S. T. Carmichael
Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine,
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
e-mail: lnih@ucla.edu; Scarmichael@mednet.ucla.edu
T. Segura (*)
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Neurology, Dermatology, Pratt School of
Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
e-mail: tatiana.segura@duke.edu