Effects of late endothelial progenitor cells on the function of cardiomyocytes in co-culture

Objective:To evaluate the effect of late endothelial progenitor cells(EPCs) on the proliferation,apoptosis of cardiomyocytes(CM) from bone marrow of rats and analyze its mechanism.Methods:The late EPCs were cultured and characterized.Then,we co-cultured late EPCs with CM of different ratios(0∶1-10∶1) and time(12-48 h),and tested the proliferation and apoptosis.Furthermore,we tested the vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) of co-culture supernatant for 48 h of different ratios(0∶1-10∶1).Results: The early EPCs became long spindle on the 7th day,and then became cornerstone shape on the 28th day.Moreover,late EPCs can take in Dil-acLDL and FITC-UEA-I.After co-cultured with late EPCs of different ratios and time,CM demonstrated better proliferation(P 0.05) and apoptosis(P 0.05),respectively.Besides,compared with the control,the protection was highest(P 0.05) when the ratio was 10∶1 for 48 h.After co-cultured for 48 h,the VEGF of co-culture supernatant increased significantly(P 0.05).Conclusion: This study demonstrates that late EPCs can improve the proliferation and apoptosis of CM in ratio-and time-dependent manner,which may be related to VEGF secreted by late EPCs.