In vitro promotion of SDF-1α on the migration and proliferation of C-kit+ cardiac stem cells in neonatal mice.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to explore the In Vitro effects of stromal-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) on the migration and proliferation of c-kit+ cardiac stem cells. The lentivirus containing SDF-1α (LV-SDF-1α) was constructed. Primary myocardial fibroblasts were transfected by LV-SDF-1α, followed by primary culture of cardiac tissue cells and separation of c-kit+ cardiac stem cells with a flow cytometer, in order to investigate the effects of SDF-1α on the migration and proliferation of c-kit+ cardiac stem cells using cell co-culture, immunofluorescence and EdU tracing technologies. The results showed that myocardial fibroblasts could secrete SDF-1α after the transfection with LV-SDF-1α. High-purity c-kit+ cardiac stem cells were obtained through flow cytometry sorting and the positive rate was about 40%. The c-kit+ cardiac stem cells cultured In Vitro could be differentiated into cTnT positive cardiomyocyte-like cells. After co-culture of myocardial fibroblasts and c-kit+ cardiac stem cells transfected with lentivirus, SDF-1α might increase the migration of c-kit+ cardiac stem cells, but SDF-1α did not promote the proliferation of c-kit+ cardiac stem cells. In conclusion, the myocardial fibroblasts transfected with lentivirus can highly express SDF-1α, c-kit+ cardiac stem cells can be differentiated into cTnT positive cardiomyocyte-like cells and SDF-1α can effectively enhance the migration of c-kit+ cardiac stem cells but fails to stimulate the proliferation.