1. In Vitro and In Vivo Cardiomyogenic Differentiation of Amniotic Fluid Stem Cells.
- Author
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Bollini, Sveva, Pozzobon, Michela, Nobles, Muriel, Riegler, Johannes, Dong, Xuebin, Piccoli, Martina, Chiavegato, Angela, Price, Anthony, Ghionzoli, Marco, Cheung, King, Cabrelle, Anna, O'Mahoney, Paul, Cozzi, Emanuele, Sartore, Saverio, Tinker, Andrew, Lythgoe, Mark, and Coppi, Paolo
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AMNIOTIC liquid , *STEM cell treatment , *CARDIAC regeneration , *HEART cells , *FLOW cytometry , *STEM cell transplantation , *POLYMERASE chain reaction , *LABORATORY rats - Abstract
Cell therapy has developed as a complementary treatment for myocardial regeneration. While both autologous and allogeneic uses have been advocated, the ideal candidate has not been identified yet. Amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells are potentially a promising resource for cell therapy and tissue engineering of myocardial injuries. However, no information is available regarding their use in an allogeneic context. c-kit-sorted, GFP-positive rat AFS (GFP-rAFS) cells and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (rCMs) were characterized by cytocentrifugation and flow cytometry for the expression of mesenchymal, embryonic and cell lineage-specific antigens. The activation of the myocardial gene program in GFP-rAFS cells was induced by co-culture with rCMs. The stem cell differentiation was evaluated using immunofluorescence, RT-PCR and single cell electrophysiology. The in vivo potential of Endorem-labeled GFP-rAFS cells for myocardial repair was studied by transplantation in the heart of animals with ischemia/reperfusion injury (I/R), monitored by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Three weeks after injection a small number of GFP-rAFS cells acquired an endothelial or smooth muscle phenotype and to a lesser extent CMs. Despite the low GFP-rAFS cells count in the heart, there was still an improvement of ejection fraction as measured by MRI. rAFS cells have the in vitro propensity to acquire a cardiomyogenic phenotype and to preserve cardiac function, even if their potential may be limited by poor survival in an allogeneic setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
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