Cell death has traditionally been subdivided into regulated (apoptosis) and unregulated (necrosis) forms. While apoptosis has always been recognized to be a pathway of highly orchestrated signaling events, necrosis or necrotic cell death is known as a fortuitous and unregulated means of cell death that is induced by nonspecific and nonphysiological stress.

Researchers report on a new approach to treating ischemia based on the administration of nanofilaments carrying VEGF-mimetic peptides. The cell-free technology comprises self-assembling peptide amphiphile (PA) nanostructures that display high densities of the VEGF-mimetic peptides on their surface.