HGF and myocardial infarction: It has been shown that the sequential release of IGF-1 followed by HGF from an affinity-binding alginate hydrogel was able to increase angiogenesis and mature blood vessel formation in the MI heart more so than single growth factor control gels or gels without growth factors, suggesting that the timing and selection of growth factors for delivery is an important consideration (Ruvinov et al., 2011).