Conditioned medium enhances the fusion capability of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and cardiomyocytes

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) show accelerated regeneration potential when these cells experience hypoxic stress. This "preconditioning" has shown promising results with respect to cardio-protection as it stimulates endogenous mechanisms resulting in multiple cellular responses. The current study was carried out to analyze the effect of hypoxia on the expression of certain growth factors in rat MSCs and cardiomyocytes (CMs). Both cell types were cultured and assessed separately for their responsiveness to hypoxia by an optimized dose of 2,4,-dinitrophenol (DNP). These cells were allowed to propagate under normal condition for either 2 or 24 h and then analyzed for the expression of growth factors by RT-PCR. Variable patterns of expression were observed which indicate that their expression depends on the time of re-oxygenation and extent of hypoxia. To see whether the growth factors released during hypoxia affect the fusion of MSCs with CMs, we performed co-culture studies in normal and conditioned medium. The conditioned medium is defined as the medium in which CMs were grown for re-oxygenation till the specified time period of either 2 or 24 h after hypoxia induction. The results showed that the fusion efficiency of cells was increased when the conditioned medium was used as compared to that in the normal medium. This may be due to the presence of certain growth factors released by the cells under hypoxic condition that promote cell survival and enhance their fusion or regenerating ability. This study would serve as another attempt in designing a therapeutic strategy in which conditioned MSCs can be used for ischemic diseases and provide more specific therapy for cardiac regeneration.