Assessing the potential role of copper and cobalt in stimulating angiogenesis for tissue regeneration

The use of copper (Cu(2+)) and cobalt (Co(2+)) has been described to stimulate blood vessel formation, a key process for the success of tissue regeneration. However, understanding how different concentrations of these ions affect cellular response is important to design scaffolds for their delivery to better fine tune the angiogenic response. On the one hand, gene expression analysis and the assessment of tubular formation structures with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) revealed that high concentrations (10μM) of Cu(2+) in early times and lower concentrations (0.1 and 1μM) at later times (day 7) enhanced angiogenic response. On the other hand, higher concentrations (25μM) of Co(2+) during all time course increased the angiogenic gene expression and 0.5, 5 and 25μM enhanced the ability to form tubular structures. To further explore synergistic effects combining both ions, the non-toxic concentrations were used simultaneously, although results showed an increased cell toxicity and no improvement of angiogenic response. These results provide useful information for the design of Cu(2+) or Co(2+) delivery scaffolds in order to release the appropriate concentration during time course for blood vessel stimulation.