Critical limb ischemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Recently, many studies confirmed that MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-exosomes) had potential therapeutic effect to treat hindlimb ischemia through pro-angiogenesis. The therapeutic angiogenesis is a critical measurement to judge the beneficial effect of MSC-exosomes treatment. Formerly, the therapeutic effect of MSC-exosomes was usually evaluated through clinical assessment and histopathological examination. Here, we describe a strategy to evaluate the therapeutic effect of MSC-exosomes by monitoring the therapeutic angiogenesis with bioluminescent imaging in hindlimb ischemia mice models.
Keywords: Bioluminescent imaging; Exosome; Firefly luciferase; Hindlimb ischemia; Luciferin; MSC.