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DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1191707
In vivo cardiac homing and heart failure remodeling characteristics of cord blood and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
Objectives: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) represent a promising source for regenerative cardiac cell therapy. However, MSC derived from adult tissue may be subject to detrimental ageing processes. Therefore, we compared the cardiac homing and regeneration potential of neonatal cord blood (CB) MSC with that of adult bone marrow (BM) MSC.
Methods: CB-MSC were prepared from healthy donors and expanded in customized medium, while BM-MSCs were isolated from patients undergoing CABG surgery. MSC were characterized by FACS, electron microscopy, and colony forming units assay (CFU-F). Cardiac homing and remodelling capacity of MSCs was studied in vivo by cardiac MRI after systemic delivery of iron oxide labeled cells in a NOD-scid mouse aortic banding model.
Results: Cell culture expansion and CFU-F assays revealed superior proliferation capacity of CB-MSCs compared to BM-MSCs, and there were variations in the differential expression pattern of CD73, CD105 and CD90. By electron microscopy, CB-MSC displayed a markedly different morphology than BM-MSC, with prominent metabolically active organelles. The uptake of iron oxide particles was 10x more efficient in CB-MSC than in BM-MSC. The impact of MSC transplantation on functional behaviour and dimensions of the hypertrophied LV myocardium was similar. Comparative quantitative assessment of the cardiac homing efficacy was hampered by the markedly different iron oxide loading capacity. When correcting the MRI signal for the difference in tracer uptake, there were no fundamental differences between the CB-MSC and BM-MSC kinetics.
Conclusion: Despite superior in vitro characteristics, CB-MSC do not provide a relevant functional advantage in hypertrophy-induced LV failure.