Patent ID: 8771737

Claim:
An injectable graft composition for myocardial tissue regeneration, said composition comprising an acellular extracellular matrix (ECM) from a mammalian tissue source comprising small intestine submucosa, said ECM comprising endogenous proteoglycans, fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), said ECM further comprising an exogenously added transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), said TGF-β comprising at least 0.1% by weight of said composition, said TGF-β being linked to at least one molecule in said ECM, wherein said TGF-β interacts with said proteoglycans to control matrix formation and remodeling, wherein, when said composition is administered to damaged or diseased cardiovascular tissue, said composition induces stem cell proliferation and differentiation of stem cells into cardiomyocytes.