Christopher Breuer - New Albany OH, US Tarek Fahmy - New Haven CT, US Michael Simons - Hamden CT, US Pei-Yu Chen - East Haven CT, US Daniel Rowe Duncan - Boston MA, US Joseph Patterson - New Haven CT, US
Methods for treating or preventing neointima stenosis are disclosed. The methods generally involve the use of a TGFβ inhibitor, a SMAD2 inhibitor, an FGF Receptor agonist, a Let-7 agonist, or a combination thereof, to inhibit endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (Endo-MT) of vascular endothelial cells into smooth muscle cells (SMC) at sites of endothelial damage. The disclosed methods can therefore be used to prevent or inhibit neointimal stenosis or restenosis, e.g., after angioplasty, vascular graft, or stent. Also disclosed are methods for increasing the patency of biodegradable, synthetic vascular grafts using a composition that inhibits Endo-MT. A cell-free tissue engineered vascular graft (TEVG) produced by this method is also disclosed.