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Updated: Aug 17, 2026
In Vitro Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Functional Cardiomyocyte-like Cells
Published on: August 9, 2017
Differentiation, engraftment and functional effects of pre-treated mesenchymal stem cells in a rat myocardial infarct
Jihyun Yoon1, Byoung Goo Min, Young-Hoon Kim
1Department of Cardiology, Korea University Medical Center, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Background:
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) offer a novel therapeutic option in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction. MSCs are able to differentiate into myogenic cells after 5-azacytitdine treatment. However, 5-azacytidine might have genotoxic effects. Recently, it was reported that combined treatment with bone morphogenetic protein-2(BMP-2) and fibroblast growth factor-4(FGF-4) caused cardiac differentiation in non-precardiac mesoderm explants. Therefore, we investigated whether MSCs treated with combined BMP-2 and FGF-4 showed evidence of myogenic differentiation in vitro, and whether these cells resulted in sustained engraftment, myogenic differentiation, and improved cardiac function after implantation in infarcted myocardium.
Methods And Results:
In vitro study: MSCs were treated with BMP-2 + FGF-4 (GF-MSCs) and myogenic phenotype was evaluated immunohistochemically. Cell growth curve was used to compare MSC proliferative capacity between the growth factors and 5-azacytidine treatments. In vivo study: two weeks after coronary artery occlusion, GF-MSCs (n=15), MSCs (n=5) labelled with PKH26 were injected into infarcted myocardium. Control animals (n=5) received a culture medium into the infarcted myocardium. Two weeks after implantation, some engrafted GF-MSCs or MSCs expressed sarcomeric-alpha-actinin and cardiac myosin heavy chain, as was observed in culture. Echocardiography showed that the GF-MSC group had a better (p < 0.05) left ventricular performance than the other groups.
Conclusion:
GF-MSCs induced myogenic differentiation in vitro. Moreover, GF-MSCs engrafted into the infarcted myocardium increased myogenic differentiation, prevented dilation of the infarcted region, and eventually improved heart function.
