Wound repair is an intractable problem in clinic, with limited treatment options. Previous studies have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of Nogo-B in tissue repairs. However, the therapeutic effect of Nogo-B in HUVEC is still unknown. In this study, we examined the benefit of genetically modified Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) and found that down regulation of Nogo-B significantly promoted secretion of growth factors involving in wound healing and greatly boosted the proliferation, migration of fibroblasts and epithelial cells. Moreover, using an excisional wound splinting model, we showed that injection of exogenous HUVEC-siNogo-B around the wound significantly enhanced angiogenesis and wound healing in nude mice. Thus, our data suggests that genetically modified HUVECs support microenvironment suitable for wound healing and systemically demonstrates the beneficial effect of HUVECs in wound healing.
Keywords: Nogo-B; angiogenesis; human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs); nude mice; paracrine; wound healing.