title: Cardiac potential of stem cells from whole human umbilical cord tissue.
abstract: We investigated the role of stem cells from human umbilical cord tissue in cardiomyocyte regeneration. The umbilical cord stem cells were initially characterized and differentiated in a myocardial differentiation medium containing 5-azacytidine for 24 h. Differentiation into cardiomyocytes was determined by expression of cardiac specific markers, like cardiac alpha-actin, connexin43, myosin, Troponin T, and ultrastructural analysis. In vivo, the transplanted umbilical cord stem cells were sprouting from local injection and differentiated into cardiomyocyte-like cells in a rat myocardial infarction model. Echocardiography revealed increasing left ventricular function after umbilical cord stem cell transplantation. These results demonstrate that umbilical cord stem cells can differentiate into cardiomyocyte-like cells both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, human umbilical cord might represent a source of stem cells useful for cellular therapy and myocardial tissue engineering. Future studies are required to determine the molecular signaling mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Nanjing Children's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. pumcwu@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Kai Hong
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xu Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shi Hong
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Shao Guang
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ying Long
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhong Chao
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002469:Cell Separation; D048430:Cell Shape; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006801:Humans; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology* / Q000637:transplantation