title: Cardiotrophin-1 promotes cardiomyocyte differentiation from mouse induced pluripotent stem cells via JAK2/STAT3/Pim-1 signaling pathway.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) has shown great potential in cellular therapy of myocardial infarction (MI), while its application is hampered by the low efficiency of cardiomyocyte differentiation. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) on cardiomyocyte differentiation from mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (miPSCs) and the underlying mechanisms involved.
  
  
  METHODS
  The optimal treatment condition for cardiomyocyte differentiation from miPSCs was established with ideal concentration (10 ng/mL) and duration (from day 3 to day 14) of CT-1 administration. Up-regulated expression of cardiac specific genes that accounted for embryonic cardiogenesis was observed by quantitative RT-PCR. Elevated amount of α-myosin heavy chain (α-MHC) and cardiac troponin I (cTn I) positive cells were detected by immunofluorescence staining and flow cytometry analysis in CT-1 group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Transmission electron microscopic analysis revealed that cells treated with CT-1 showed better organized sacromeric structure and more mitochondria, which are morphological characteristic of matured cardiomyocytes. Western blot demonstrated that CT-1 promotes cardiomyocyte differentiation from miPSCs partly via JAK2/STAT3/Pim-1 pathway as compared with control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggested that CT-1 could enhance the cardiomyocyte differentiation as well as the maturation of mouse induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes by regulating JAK2/STAT3/Pim-1signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Sai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Xiu-Juan
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Centre of Tissue Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Miao-Miao
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yun-Dai
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China; Department of Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cao
keywords: Cardiac differentiation; Cardiotrophin-1; Mouse induced pluripotent stem cells; Pim-1