The therapeutic impact of human neonatal BMSC in a right ventricular pressure overload model in mice

ObjectiveTo determine the impact of donor age on the therapeutic effect of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in treating adverse remodeling as the result of right ventricle (RV) pressure overload.MethodsBMSCs were isolated from neonatal (<1month), infant (1month to 1year), and young children (1year to 5years) and were compared in their migration potential, surface marker expression, VEGF secretion, and matrix metalloprotein (MMP) 9 expression. Four-week-old male C57 mice underwent pulmonary artery banding and randomized to treatment and untreated control groups. During the surgery, BMSCs were administered to the mice by intramyocardial injection into the RV free wall. Four weeks later, RV function and tissue were analyzed by echocardiography, histology, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.ResultsHuman neonatal BMSCs demonstrated the greatest migration capacity and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor but no difference in expression of surface markers. Neonate BMSCs administration resulted in increasing expression of VEGF, a significant reduction in RV wall thickness, and internal diameter in mice after PA banding. These beneficial effects were probably associated with paracrine secretion as no cardiomyocyte transdifferentiation was observed.ConclusionsHuman BMSCs from different age groups have different characteristics, and the youngest BMSCs may favorably impact the application of stem cell-based therapy to alleviate adverse RV remodeling induced by pressure overload.