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Updated: Jun 5, 2026
Magnetic Adjustment of Afterload in Engineered Heart Tissues
Published on: May 5, 2020
Bone marrow support of the heart in pressure overload is lost with aging
Nikolai A Sopko1, Benjamin A Turturice, Mitchell E Becker
1Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.
Insights
Aging impairs the heart's ability to repair itself after stress. Older bone marrow stem cells are less effective at restoring cardiac function, leading to worse outcomes in aged mice.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Stem Cell Biology
- Aging Research
Background:
- Exogenous stem cell therapy is explored for cardiac dysfunction.
- The role of endogenous bone marrow stem cells in cardiac homeostasis under stress and aging is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of bone marrow (BM) derived stem cells in cardiac homeostasis during pressure overload (PO).
- To determine how aging affects the BM stem cell response to cardiac stress.
Main Methods:
- Young and old mice underwent bone marrow transplantation.
- Mice were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) to induce pressure overload.
- Cardiac function, cell engraftment, myocyte apoptosis, hypertrophy, and fibrosis were assessed.
Main Results:
- Older bone marrow was linked to reduced cardiac function post-TAC.
- Decreased function correlated with lower BM cell engraftment, increased myocyte apoptosis, and fibrosis in old mice.
- Aging reduced the activation of resident cardiac cells and BM-derived cells in response to PO.
Conclusions:
- Bone marrow stem cells activate in response to cardiac pressure overload.
- Recruitment of BM cells is crucial for myocyte hypertrophy and maintaining cardiac function under stress.
- This beneficial role of BM stem cells is diminished with aging.
Rationale:
Exogenous stem cell delivery is under investigation to prevent and treat cardiac dysfunction. It is less studied as to the extent endogenous bone marrow derived stem cells contribute to cardiac homeostais in response to stress and the affects of aging on this stress response.
Objective:
To determine the role of bone marrow (BM) derived stem cells on cardiac homeostasis in response to pressure overload (PO) and how this response is altered by aging.
Methods And Results:
Young (8 weeks) and old (>40 weeks) C57/b6 mice underwent homo- and heterochronic BM transplantation prior to transverse aortic constriction (TAC). We found that older BM is associated with decreased cardiac function following TAC. This decreased function is associated with decrease in BM cell engraftment, increased myocyte apoptosis, decreased myocyte hypertrophy, increased myocardial fibrosis and decreased cardiac function. Additionally, there is a decrease in activation of resident cells within the heart in response to PO in old mice. Interestingly, these effects are not due to alterations in vascular density or inflammation in response to PO or differences in ex vivo stem cell migration between young and old mice.
Conclusions:
BM derived stem cells are activated in response to cardiac PO, and the recruitment of BM derived cells are involved in cardiac myocyte hypertrophy and maintenance of function in response to PO which is lost with aging.
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