Yang Xiaoning, Zhao Yuwei, Liu Wei, Gao Zhongbao, Wang Chunlan, Wang Changyong, Li Siwei, Zhang Xiao
Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China.
Biophys Rep. 2024 Aug 31;10(4):241-253. doi: 10.52601/bpr.2024.240011.
The whole heart decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) has become a promising scaffold material for cardiac tissue engineering. Our previous research has shown that the whole heart acellular matrix possesses the memory function regulating neural stem cells (NSCs) trans-differentiating to cardiac lineage cells. However, the cell subpopulations and phenotypes in the trans-differentiation of NSCs have not been clearly identified. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing and identified 2,765 cells in the recellularized heart with NSCs revealing the cellular diversity of cardiac and neural lineage, confirming NSCs were capable of trans-differentiating into the cardiac lineage while maintaining the original ability to differentiate into the neural lineage. Notably, the trans-differentiated heart-like cells have dual signatures of neuroectoderm and cardiac mesoderm. This study unveils an in-depth mechanism underlying the trans-differentiation of NSCs and provides a new opportunity and theoretical basis for cardiac regeneration.
全心脏脱细胞细胞外基质（ECM）已成为心脏组织工程中一种很有前景的支架材料。我们之前的研究表明，全心脏无细胞基质具有调节神经干细胞（NSCs）向心脏谱系细胞转分化的记忆功能。然而，NSCs转分化过程中的细胞亚群和表型尚未明确鉴定。在此，我们进行了单细胞RNA测序，并在重新细胞化的心脏中鉴定出2765个含有NSCs的细胞，揭示了心脏和神经谱系的细胞多样性，证实NSCs能够转分化为心脏谱系，同时保持其分化为神经谱系的原始能力。值得注意的是，转分化的类心脏细胞具有神经外胚层和心脏中胚层的双重特征。本研究揭示了NSCs转分化的深入机制，为心脏再生提供了新的机会和理论基础。
