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In Vitro Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Functional Cardiomyocyte-like Cells
Published on: August 9, 2017
Cardiac myocytes are recruited by bone marrow-derived cells in intact murine heart
Seimi Satomi-Kobayashi1, Seinosuke Kawashima, Tsuyoshi Sakoda
1Division of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
Insights
Bone marrow stem cells can regenerate cardiac myocytes in intact hearts, not just damaged ones. This discovery offers new possibilities for repairing heart tissue using stem cell therapy.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Stem Cell Research
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Cardiac myocytes typically do not divide after birth, limiting natural heart repair.
- Previous studies suggested bone marrow stem cells could regenerate myocytes in damaged hearts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if bone marrow-derived cells can differentiate into cardiac myocytes in intact hearts.
- To explore the potential of stem cell-based cardiac regeneration in non-damaged conditions.
Main Methods:
- Bone marrow transplantation from male to female mice.
- Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to detect Y chromosomes in female heart cells.
- Immunohistochemical staining using muscle-specific antibodies.
Main Results:
- Male bone marrow-derived cells were identified as differentiated myocytes in female hearts (0.01-0.09% of total myocytes).
- The proportion of these regenerated myocytes increased over time (3 to 8 months post-transplantation).
Conclusions:
- Bone marrow-derived cells can differentiate into cardiac myocytes even in intact hearts.
- This suggests a broader potential for stem cell therapy in cardiac regeneration beyond damaged tissue.
Abstract:
It is generally believed that the cardiac myocytes withdraw from the cell cycle shortly after birth and thereafter any loss of myocardial tissue cannot be repaired. However, recent reports indicate that cardiac myocytes can be regenerated by stem cells derived from bone marrow in the damaged hearts. In this study, we investigated whether bone marrow-derived cells can differentiate into cardiac myocytes in the intact hearts. We performed bone marrow transplantation from syngenic male mice to female c57/B6 mice. In female mice's hearts, the presence of cells from male mice was examined by FISH method that detects Y chromosome. Using the same samples, we also performed immunohistochemical staining with muscle specific antibodies. In the heart sections of female mice, there were some cells that were considered as differentiated myocytes derived from male bone marrow (0.01~0.09% of total myocytes) and the proportion of the cells increased as the period after bone marrow transplantation became longer (3 months after vs. 8 months after). These results suggest that, not only in the damaged heart but also in the intact heart, a portion of cardiac myocytes is recruited by bone marrow-derived cells.
