Transplantation of expanded bone marrow-derived very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSEL-SCs) improves left ventricular function and remodelling after myocardial infarction

Ewa K. Zuba-Surma, Yiru Guo, Hisham Taher, Santosh K. Sanganalmath, Greg Hunt, Robert J. Vincent, Magda Kucia, Ahmed Abdel-Latif, Xian Liang Tang, Mariusz Z. Ratajczak, Buddhadeb Dawn, Roberto Bolli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

63 Scopus citations

Abstract

Adult bone marrow-derived very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSEL-SCs) exhibit a Sca-1+/Lin-/CD45- phenotype and can differentiate into various cell types, including cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells. We have previously reported that transplantation of a small number (1 × 106) of freshly isolated, non-expanded VSEL-SCs into infarcted mouse hearts resulted in improved left ventricular (LV) function and anatomy. Clinical translation, however, will require large numbers of cells. Because the frequency of VSEL-SCs in the marrow is very low, we examined whether VSEL-SCs can be expanded in culture without loss of therapeutic efficacy. Mice underwent a 30 min. coronary occlusion followed by reperfusion and, 48 hrs later, received an intramyocardial injection of vehicle (group I, n= 11), 1 × 105 enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-labelled expanded untreated VSEL-SCs (group II, n= 7), or 1 × 105 EGFP-labelled expanded VSEL-SCs pre-incubated in a cardiogenic medium (group III, n= 8). At 35 days after myocardial infarction (MI), mice treated with pre-incubated VSEL-SCs exhibited better global and regional LV systolic function and less LV hypertrophy compared with vehicle-treated controls. In contrast, transplantation of expanded but untreated VSEL-SCs did not produce appreciable reparative benefits. Scattered EGFP+ cells expressing α-sarcomeric actin, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)-1, or von Willebrand factor were present in VSEL-SC-treated mice, but their numbers were very small. No tumour formation was observed. We conclude that VSEL-SCs expanded in culture retain the ability to alleviate LV dysfunction and remodelling after a reperfused MI provided that they are exposed to a combination of cardiomyogenic growth factors and cytokines prior to transplantation. Counter intuitively, the mechanism whereby such pre-incubation confers therapeutic efficacy does not involve differentiation into new cardiac cells. These results support the potential therapeutic utility of VSEL-SCs for cardiac repair.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1319-1328
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Volume15
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2011

Keywords

  • Bone marrow
  • Left ventricular function
  • Myocardial infarction
  • Myocardial repair
  • Remodelling
  • Stem cell
  • VSEL-SCs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Cell Biology

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