Abstract: Objective: To compare the efficiency of liposome and adenovirus vector for hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) gene transfer to Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs). Methods:1.Rat bone marrow-derived EPCs were separated by density gradient centrifugation and cultured, and identified by observing the experiment of uptaking DiL-acLDL and combining FITC-UEA-1 and analyzing the expression of CD133+ by Flow Cytometry. 2.Liposome mediated gene transfection: EPCs were divided to three group: pIRES2-EGFP-HGF group，pIRES2-EGFP group and blank control.3.Adenovirus mediated gene transfect- ion: EPCs were divided to three group: pAdxsi-GFP-HGF group, pAdxsi-GFP group and blank control. 4.The expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) were observed by fluorescence microscope.The expression of HGF were detected by ELISA ,The proliferation were detected by MTT. Results: Liposome and adenovirus could deliver HGF gene marked by the green fluorescence protein (GFP) to EPCs. Adenovirus proved most effective with efficiencies of up to 80% with higher levels HGF expression and lower levels of cell death. Conclusion: Comparing the liposome, adenovirus vector for HGF gene transfer to EPCs has more efficiency, lower cell toxicity and higher HGF expression.

Key words: Endothelial Progenitor Cells, Hepatocyte Growth Factor, Liposome, Adenovirus, Rat