Min Jiang-Yong, Yang Yinke, Converso Kimber L, Liu Lixin, Huang Qin, Morgan James P, Xiao Yong-Fu
The Charles A. Dana Research Institute and the Harvard-Thorndike Laboratory, Boston Massachusetts 02215, USA.
J Appl Physiol (1985). 2002 Jan;92(1):288-96. doi: 10.1152/jappl.2002.92.1.288.
Massive loss of cardiac myocytes after myocardial infarction (MI) is a common cause of heart failure. The present study was designed to investigate the improvement of cardiac function in MI rats after embryonic stem (ES) cell transplantation. MI in rats was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Cultured ES cells used for cell transplantation were transfected with the marker green fluorescent protein (GFP). Animals in the treated group received intramyocardial injection of ES cells in injured myocardium. Compared with the MI control group injected with an equivalent volume of the cell-free medium, cardiac function in ES cell-implanted MI animals was significantly improved 6 wk after cell transplantation. The characteristic phenotype of engrafted ES cells was identified in implanted myocardium by strong positive staining to sarcomeric alpha-actin, cardiac alpha-myosin heavy chain, and troponin I. GFP-positive cells in myocardium sectioned from MI hearts confirmed the survival and differentiation of engrafted cells. In addition, single cells isolated from cell-transplanted MI hearts showed rod-shaped GFP-positive myocytes with typical striations. The present data demonstrate that ES cell transplantation is a feasible and novel approach to improve ventricular function in infarcted failing hearts.
心肌梗死（MI）后心肌细胞大量丢失是心力衰竭的常见原因。本研究旨在探讨胚胎干细胞（ES细胞）移植后对MI大鼠心功能的改善作用。通过结扎左冠状动脉前降支诱导大鼠发生MI。用于细胞移植的培养ES细胞用绿色荧光蛋白（GFP）标记物进行转染。治疗组动物在受损心肌内进行ES细胞心肌内注射。与注射等量无细胞培养基的MI对照组相比，ES细胞移植的MI动物在细胞移植后6周心功能显著改善。通过对肌节α-肌动蛋白、心脏α-肌球蛋白重链和肌钙蛋白I的强阳性染色，在植入心肌中鉴定出植入ES细胞的特征性表型。MI心脏切片心肌中的GFP阳性细胞证实了植入细胞的存活和分化。此外，从细胞移植的MI心脏分离的单细胞显示出具有典型横纹的杆状GFP阳性心肌细胞。目前的数据表明，ES细胞移植是改善梗死性衰竭心脏心室功能的一种可行且新颖的方法。
