Experimental study of cell transplantation into ischemic myocardium using mesenchymal stem cells transfected by vascular endothelial growth factor

Objective To investigate the effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation combining with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene therapy on myocardium rebuilding,angiogene- sis,and heart function improvement in rats with myocardial infarction.Methods SD rat MSCs were isola- ted,cultured in vitro,labeled with BrdU and transfected by Ad.VEGF gene.Four weeks after left anterior descending artery was ligated to created rat myocardial infarction,cardiac function was examined with echocar- diography,rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=10 in each group):GroupⅠ:MSCs/Ad.VEGF implantation;GroupⅡ:MSCs implantation;GroupⅢ:Ad.VEGF injection;GroupⅣ:Control.MSCs dif- ferentiation was observed 4 weeks after transplantation.Immunohistochemistry and angiogenesis were observed. Echocardiography was performed to detect the effects on heart function.Results MSCs labeled with BrdU could be identified in host hearts in groupⅠandⅡ,most of them positively stained with cTnT antibody. Echocardiography indicated that the improvement of the LVEF value in groupⅠwas more significant than that in the other three groups (P＜0.01,respectively).Some cells were incorporated into the coronary capillaries in the infarcted region.The capillary density in groupⅠwas higher than that in the other three groups (P＜0.01,respectively).Conclusion MSCs implantation combining with VEGF gene therapy can obviously re- pair damaged myocardium and enhance the angiogenesis in ischemic heart tissue.