Abstract

 

Ischemia is a major plague of modern life. In the search for peptide drug candidates for curing ischemic disease, we evaluated the effects of an anti-microbial peptide SR-0379 on stem cell-mediated therapy of ischemic diseases. Migration and tube-forming ability of human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were enhanced by SR-0379 treatment in vitro. Intramuscular administration of SR-0379 into murine ischemic hindlimb significantly enhanced blood perfusion and decreased tissue necrosis, and increased the number of blood vessels in ischemic muscle. Moreover, co-administration of SR-0379 together with EPCs more potently stimulated blood perfusion in ischemic hindlimb than intramuscular injection with either SR-0379 or EPC alone. The enhanced blood perfusion was accompanied by a significant increase in the number of CD31- and ¥á-SMA-positive blood vessels in ischemic hindlimb. These results suggest that SR-0379 is a potential drug candidate for potentiating EPC-mediated therapy of ischemic diseases.