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Figure 1 Direct adenoviral injection or transplantation of cells expressing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-165 induces neovascularization. Eight weeks after myocardial infarction induced by left anterior descending coronary artery ligation, the peri-infarct zone was injected with either 1 x 107 pfu of adenoviral VEGF-165 (AdVEGF-165) (n = 4) or 1 million skeletal myoblast (SKMB) transfected with AdLuciferase (n = 7) or AdVEGF-165 (n = 6) in five equally divided injections. The vasculature was identified by von Willebrand factor immunohistochemistry, and vascular density was quantified throughout the infarct zone. Data represent mean ± SD. *p < 0.01 compared with SKMB transplantation alone. &p < 0.05 compared with AdVEGF injection.