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Updated: Feb 17, 2026
Delayed Intramyocardial Delivery of Stem Cells after Ischemia Reperfusion Injury in a Murine Model
Published on: September 3, 2020
Interleukin-6 Mediates Post-Infarct Repair by Cardiac Explant-Derived Stem Cells
Audrey E Mayfield1, Pushpinder Kanda1, Alex Nantsios1
1University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada K1Y4W7.
Abstract:
Although patient-sourced cardiac explant-derived stem cells (EDCs) provide an exogenous source of new cardiomyocytes post-myocardial infarction, poor long-term engraftment indicates that the benefits seen in clinical trials are likely paracrine-mediated. Of the numerous cytokines produced by EDCs, interleukin-6 (IL-6) is the most abundant; however, its role in cardiac repair is uncertain. In this study, a custom short-hairpin oligonucleotide lentivirus was used to knockdown IL-6 in human EDCs, revealing an unexpected pro-healing role for the cytokine.
Methods:
EDCs were cultured from atrial appendages donated by patients undergoing clinically indicated cardiac surgery. The effects of lentiviral mediated knockdown of IL-6 was evaluated using in vitro and in vivo models of myocardial ischemia.
Results:
Silencing IL-6 in EDCs abrogated much of the benefits conferred by cell transplantation and revealed that IL-6 prompts cardiac fibroblasts and macrophages to reduce myocardial scarring while increasing the generation of new cardiomyocytes and recruitment of blood stem cells.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that IL-6 plays a pivotal role in EDC-mediated cardiac repair and may provide a means of increasing cell-mediated repair of ischemic myocardium.
