Compositions for regenerating defective or absent myocardium
View Patent ↗Compositions of the invention for regenerating defective or absent myocardium comprise an emulsified or injectable extracellular matrix composition. The composition may also include an extracellular matrix scaffold component of any formulation, and further include added cells, proteins, or other components to optimize the regenerative process and restore cardiac function.
1. An injectable graft composition for myocardial tissue regeneration, comprising acellular heart extracellular matrix (ECM), said ECM comprising endogenous proteoglycans, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), said ECM further comprising an exogenously added vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), said VEGF being linked to said ECM, wherein said VEGF interacts with said proteoglycans to control matrix formation and remodeling, wherein, when said composition is administered to damaged cardiovascular tissue, said composition induces stem cell proliferation and differentiation of stem cells into cardiomyocytes.