Cartilage-Derived Stromal Cells: Is It A Novel Cell Resource For Cell Therapy To Regenerate Infracted Myocardium?

Objective: The human cartilage is reported to contain multipotent dedifferentiatiated chondrocytes that posses the ability of differentiating, in vitro, into cells of mesenchymal lineage, including adipocyte, osteoblastes, chondrocytes and neurons. However, it has not yet been proved that these cells can actually differentiate in vivo and participate in heart function after transplantation into the injured heart. We transplanted human cartilage-derived stromal cells (CDSCs) into the infarct and border zone of injured heart in rat animal model to evaluate the possibility of cell differentiation into heart cells and the influence on heart function.Materials and Methods: Stromal cells were isolated and cultured from human articular cartilage and subjected to fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis to determine cell phenotype. Myocardial infarction (MI) was created by ligation of left anterior descending (LAD) artery of adult rat hearts. Three weeks after MI, the CDSCs labeled with Hoechst stain were injected into the infarction and border zone. Echocardiography, histological examination, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed four weeks after cell transplantation.Results: FACS analysis showed that the CDSCs were consistently negative for CD34, CD45, HLA-DR, and were positive for the adhesion...