Smooth mucle cells are isolated from the jugular vein or the femoral artery. They are retrovirally transduced and expanded
Smooth muscle cells (SMC) were isolated from the jugular vein or the femoral artery following the surgery for ischemia induction. After cell expansion to at least 5 × 106 SMC, cells were transduced. Pseudo-typed retroviral vectors encoding VEGF165-GFP were used for gene transfer to SMC. Average time from cell isolation to completion of expansion and gene transfer was 40 days (range 31–55).