Mitochondrial uptake and translocation by macrophages promotes vascular regeneration in peripheral ischemia

Authors: Xiaolei Sun et al.

Journal: Bioactive Materials, 2025

Research Areas: Biomedicine and Cardiovascular Medicine

Cell Lines: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and Smooth muscle cells (SMCs)

Summary: Mitochondrial transplantation promotes cardiac repair following injury; however, its effects on limb ischemia due to peripheral artery disease (PAD) remain unclear.In this study, transplantation with mitochondria isolated from both murine muscle tissue and human arterial blood significantly promotes revascularization and

blood flow recovery in a hindlimb ischemia mouse model. The findings further show that transplanted mitochondria promote macrophages infiltrating into ischemic regions. Additionally, internalization of the mitochondria promotes macrophage M2-like polarization, resulting in increased pro-angiogenic factors expression and

secretion and subsequent endothelial cell and smooth muscle cell proliferation.  In this study, researchers used the Halo counter HD-4 Cell Counter from Hiscore Inc. to quality-control the number of Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). In conclusion, mitochondrial transplantation shows considerable potential inimproving peripheral ischemia and provides therapeutic options for patients with PAD.

Keywords: Mitochondrial transplantation, Peripheral artery disease (PAD), Hindlimb ischemia (HLI), Macrophages, M2-like polarization, Vascular regeneration, Revascularization, Blood flow recovery, Pro-angiogenic factors, Endothelial cells, Smooth muscle cells