Human growth factor production towards in vitro vascularization

Tissue engineering is an important method for treating damaged or injured tissues. The formation of new blood vessels from endothelial cells is called angiogenesis. This process includes numerous interactions among different proteins, cells, and the extracellular matrix; these interactions govern the formation of new vessels by introducing different growth factors at different times to regulate the blood flow in tissues. Thus, growth factors play a significant role during vascularization. In this thesis, our primary aim was to successfully synthesize three different growth factors, namely basic fibroblast growth factor/fibroblast growth factor 2 (bFGF/FGF-2), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1). These three proteins were chosen since bFGF and VEGF are important in early angiogenesis, while Ang-1 is one of the main factors governing late angiogenesis/maturation of primary vessels. In order to produce these proteins, two different methods were used, namely production in E.coli and cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS).