Effects of intramyocardial injection of encapsulated mesenchymal stem cell and endothelial progenitor cells enriched with SDF-1α on angiogenesis signaling

Abstract

Ischemic heart disease are one of the most important challenges in the clinical. In recent years, the use of stem cell therapy for the treatment of ischemic cardiac diseases is a promising approach to reducing the tissue loss in patients with heart disease. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of intramyocaridal injection of mesenchymal stem cells co-cultured with endothelial progenitor cells along with alginate/gelatin hydrogel enriched with SDF-1α factor on angiogenesis signaling in rabbit model of myocardial infarction. Materials and methods: Mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells were encapsulated via alginate/gelatin hydrogel enriched by SDF-1α factor that used to increase cell growth dynamics. Angiogenesis and cell migration properties were evaluated after 7 days of encapsulation of the cells. In order to investigate the reparative effects on the heart tissue, the cells were injected intramyocardially into the rabbit experimental infarct model. After one month, a heart sample was achieved and the process of heart tissue repair was evaluated. Findings: Light microscopy findings showed that the cells were distributed in the alginate-gelatin hydrogels uniformly. The results of cell migration in Transwell insert showed higher cell migration in the groups containing SDF-1α factor (p<0.05). The angiogenesis property increases in groups containing endothelial progenitor cells alone or co-cultured with mesenchymal stem cells in the presence of SDF-1α factor. The results of animal studies showed that the infarct area decreases in the groups receiving MSCs alone or co-cultured with EPCs. It seems that SDF-1α factor can increase the implantation and infiltration rate of tumor cells in the injected area