title: Mesenchymal stem cells promote cardiac muscle repair via enhanced neovascularization.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Transplantation of bone-marrow derived stem/progenitor cells has an established therapeutic effect on cardiac muscle repair after injury. However, the exact mechanism that underlies this phenomenon is not completely understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here we transplanted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a major population from the bone-marrow derived stem/progenitor cells, and studied its effects on cardiac muscle repair after injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MSCs transplantation significantly improved cardiac muscle repair after injury. The grafted MSCs did not significantly differentiate into cardiac muscle cells themselves, but appeared to induce neovascularization in the injured heart. In a loss-of-function experiment, we further show that production and secretion of placental growth factor, but not vascular endothelial growth factor A in MSCs, were essential for the MSCs-induced neovasularization after cardiac muscle injury to facilitate cardiac muscle repair.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study thus sheds light on an undescribed role of placental growth factor in cardiac muscle regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yicheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Anqing
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006801:Humans; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D000072483:Placenta Growth Factor; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: C000608036:PGF protein, human; C000608037:Pgf protein, mouse; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000072483:Placenta Growth Factor