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Updated: Mar 24, 2026
In Vitro Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Functional Cardiomyocyte-like Cells
Published on: August 9, 2017
Influence of aging on the quantity and quality of human cardiac stem cells
Tamami Nakamura1, Tohru Hosoyama1,2, Daichi Kawamura1
1Department of Surgery and Clinical Science, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Minami-kogushi, Yamaguchi, Ube 755-8505, Japan.
Insights
Aging has minimal impact on cardiac stem cells (CSCs). Quantity and quality, including growth and angiogenic potential, remain largely unaffected, supporting their use in elderly patients.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Stem Cell Research
- Gerontology
Background:
- Aging impairs regenerative capacity of tissue-specific stem cells.
- Cardiac stem cells (CSCs) are crucial for heart repair.
- Understanding age-related changes in CSCs is vital for regenerative medicine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of advanced age on the quantity and quality of cardiac stem cells.
- To assess age-related changes in CSC growth rate, senescence, DNA damage, and growth factor production.
- To evaluate the functional capacity of CSCs from elderly individuals for potential therapeutic applications.
Main Methods:
- Cultured cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) from 26 human right atrial samples across a wide age range (2–83 years).
- Assessed CDC growth rate, senescence markers (SA-β-gal), DNA damage (γH2AX), and expression of key growth factors (VEGF, HGF, IGF-1, SDF-1, TGF-β).
- Performed in vitro angiogenesis assays to evaluate the functional potency of CDCs.
Main Results:
- Sufficient CDCs were obtained from all age groups, with no significant association between age and cellular growth rate.
- A slight trend towards increased senescence and DNA damage was observed in CDCs from patients aged ≥ 65 years.
- Expression levels of beneficial growth factors (VEGF, HGF, IGF-1, SDF-1, TGF-β) did not decrease with age, and angiogenic potency remained intact.
Conclusions:
- The quantity and quality of cardiac stem cells are minimally impacted by aging.
- These findings support the potential use of autologous cardiosphere-derived cells for cardiac regeneration in elderly patients.
- Age is not a significant limiting factor for the efficacy of autologous stem cell transplantation in cardiac repair.
Abstract:
Advanced age affects various tissue-specific stem cells and decreases their regenerative ability. We therefore examined whether aging affected the quantity and quality of cardiac stem cells using cells obtained from 26 patients of various ages (from 2 to 83 years old). We collected fresh right atria and cultured cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs), which are a type of cardiac stem cell. Then we investigated growth rate, senescence, DNA damage, and the growth factor production of CDCs. All samples yielded a sufficient number of CDCs for experiments and the cellular growth rate was not obviously associated with age. The expression of senescence-associated b-galactosidase and the DNA damage marker, gH2AX, showed a slightly higher trend in CDCs from older patients (≥ 65 years). The expression of VEGF, HGF, IGF-1, SDF-1, and TGF-b varied among samples, and the expression of these beneficial factors did not decrease with age. An in vitro angiogenesis assay also showed that the angiogenic potency of CDCs was not impaired, even in those from older patients. Our data suggest that the impact of age on the quantity and quality of CDCs is quite limited. These findings have important clinical implications for autologous stem cell transplantation in elderly patients.
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