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Pressure overload leads to an increase of cardiac resident stem cells

Stefan Rupp1, Jürgen Bauer, Susanne von Gerlach

  • 1Pediatric Heart Center, University of Giessen and Marburg, Feulgenstrasse 12, 35390, Giessen, Germany.

Basic Research in Cardiology
|February 25, 2012
PubMed

Insights

The mammalian heart has some regenerative capacity, particularly after injury. This study found a significant increase in cardiac resident stem cells in pressure-overloaded right ventricles, suggesting a potential repair mechanism.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Biology
  • Regenerative Medicine
  • Cardiac Pathology

Background:

  • Mammalian hearts exhibit limited regenerative potential, mainly observed postnatally and following injury like myocardial infarction or pressure overload.
  • The specific cell types responsible for endogenous cardiac regeneration remain largely unidentified, with cardiac stem cells being a key area of investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify the number of c-kit+ cardiac resident cells in human hearts subjected to pressure overload.
  • To investigate the role of these cells in the context of cardiac stress and potential regenerative mechanisms.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of cardiac tissue specimens from patients with pressure-overloaded single right ventricles (n=8), dilated cardiomyopathy (n=4), and post-heart transplant biopsies (n=14).
  • Quantification of c-kit+/mast cell tryptase-/CD45- cells, identified as putative cardiac stem cells, as a percentage of total nuclei.
  • Comparison of cell counts across different patient groups, with patient ages ranging from 16 days to 19 years.

Main Results:

  • A significantly higher proportion of c-kit+/mast cell tryptase-/CD45- cells (0.41 ± 0.24%) was detected in pressure-overloaded single right ventricles compared to dilated cardiomyopathy explants (0.13 ± 0.09%).
  • This represents an approximately three-fold increase in these specific cardiac resident cells under pressure overload conditions.
  • Despite the increase, the number of these cells was insufficient to prevent the progression to congestive heart failure.

Conclusions:

  • Pressure overload in the right ventricle leads to a notable increase in c-kit+ cardiac resident cells.
  • Understanding the mechanisms driving this stem cell increase could pave the way for novel therapeutic strategies to enhance cardiac repair.
  • While these cells are implicated in a regenerative response, their current numbers do not fully counteract the detrimental effects of severe cardiac pressure overload.

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