Ulrich Flgel1, Yang Chul Bring2, Christoph Jacoby, Jrgen Schrader
1Institut fr Herz- und Kreislaufphysiologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universitt Dsseldorf, Dsseldorf, NRW, Germany; 2Institut fr Herz- und Kreislaufphysiologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universitt Dsseldorf, Germany
Therapeutic neovascularization via the processes of angiogenesis and arteriogenesis is a promising new approach for the treatment of ischemia. Adenosine is a potent stimulator of angiogenesis, however, its role in arteriogenesis is not known. We therefore have investigated whether adenosine formed extracellularly by CD73 (ecto-5-nucleotidase) influences arteriogenesis in a hindlimb ischemia model. Serial comparison of blood flow recovery and direct visualization of newly developed collateral vessels in wild-type and CD73-/- mice by high resolution 3D MR angiography revealed enhanced arteriogenesis in mice lacking CD73 and concomitantly improved metabolic recovery after ischemia by 31P MR spectrocopy.