Journal
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE
Volume 17, Issue 6, Pages 774-781Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.12056
Keywords
amniotic fluid; cardiac; differentiation; gap junctions; connexin 43
Categories
Funding
- Texas Children's Hospital
- Virginia and L.E. Simmons Family Foundation
- National Science Foundation [0940902]
- American Heart Association
- Division Of Graduate Education
- Direct For Education and Human Resources [0940902] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys
- Directorate For Engineering [1055942] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (AFSC) have been reported to differentiate into cardiomyocyte-like cells and form gap junctions when directly mixed and cultured with neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM). This study investigated whether or not culture of AFSC on the opposite side of a Transwell membrane from NRVM, allowing for contact and communication without confounding factors such as cell fusion, could direct cardiac differentiation and enhance gap junction formation. Results were compared to shared media (Transwell), conditioned media and monoculture media controls. After a 2-week culture period, AFSC did not express cardiac myosin heavy chain or troponin T in any co-culture group. Protein expression of cardiac calsequestrin 2 was up-regulated in direct transmembrane co-cultures and media control cultures compared to the other experimental groups, but all groups were up-regulated compared with undifferentiated AFSC cultures. Gap junction communication, assessed with a scrape-loading dye transfer assay, was significantly increased in direct transmembrane co-cultures compared to all other conditions. Gap junction communication corresponded with increased connexin 43 gene expression and decreased phosphorylation of connexin 43. Our results suggest that direct transmembrane co-culture does not induce cardiomyocyte differentiation of AFSC, though calsequestrin expression is increased. However, direct transmembrane co-culture does enhance connexin-43-mediated gap junction communication between AFSC.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available