Human umbilical cord blood cells: a new alternative for myocardial repair?

Cell therapy for myocardial disease is a rapidly progressive field. However, present strategies of cell transplantation into the infarcted myocardium have limitations from practical points of view. One of the biggest challenges is to achieve a sufficient number of suitable cells. Umbilical cord blood (UCB), an unlimited source of stem/progenitor cells that could be used for transplantation into the injured heart, is readily available. The aim of our review is to describe the potential and prospect of UCB as a new supplier of cells for myocardial repair. The use of UCB stem cells might be of importance to elderly and sick people in whom the availability of autologous stem cells is limited.

Hematopoietic progenitor cells as targets for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis: detection of fetal CD34+ cells and assessment of post-delivery persistence in the maternal circulation.

Culture expansion of fetal cells from the maternal circulation will provide an increased number of cells for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. Hematopoietic CD34+ cells are potential candidates for this application. More information is needed regarding the frequency of these cells and the phenomenon of post-delivery persistence in the maternal circulation. In this study we assessed the number of fetal CD34+ cells in the maternal circulation, the effect of culture expansion on the number of fetal cells and the persistence of fetal CD34+ cells from previous pregnancies. Fetal cells were identified by the presence of Y-chromosome sequences detected by FISH and nested PCR. Fetal CD34+ cells were detected in all samples from women carrying a male fetus. A low number of residual fetal cells from previous pregnancies was detected (1-3 XY cells in 20 ml blood) in less than 1/3 of the samples from both non-pregnant women and those pregnant with a female fetus. Culturing of CD34+ cells resulted in a significant increase in fetal cell numbers. However, the number of fetal cells persisting from previous pregnancies also increased after culture. It is proposed that information derived from CD34+ cells could potentially support data derived from other cell types for more accurate non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.

Effect of cytomegalovirus immediate early gene products on endothelial cell gene activity.

OBJECTIVE: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection or reactivation from latency in vascular cells have been shown to contribute to atherosclerosis. CMV-infected endothelial cells (ECs) exhibit enhanced adhesion and procoagulant properties, changes compatible with processes observed in atherogenesis. The major immediate early promoter drives immediate early gene transcription. Immediate early (IE) gene products, IE72 and IE84, function as transcription factors and thereby influence expression of cellular genes, in permissive cells as well as in abortive infections, in which viral activity is limited to immediate early expression. ECs have been shown to harbor latent CMV, support abortive CMV infection and, under certain conditions, are permissive to productive viral infection. The objective of this study was to determine whether immediate early expression alone (in the absence of further progression of the virus life-cycle) results in the activation of EC genes associated with atherogenesis. METHODS: The study was conducted in an in vitro transient transfection system in human and bovine vascular ECs, with CMV immediate early gene expression vectors and plasmids containing promoter sequences of adhesion molecule, growth factor and viral promoters driving the transcription of reporter genes. RESULTS: CMV immediate early gene expression resulted in an increase in monocyte adhesion to ECs and in the relative promoter activities of cellular growth factor and adhesion molecule genes. In addition, the viral major immediate early promoter was regulated in EC by thrombin and the immediate early gene products. CONCLUSION: These results infer the possible existence of a positive feedback mechanism in the developing atherosclerotic lesion, in which enhanced immediate early gene expression leads to subsequent activation of EC genes, which might in turn result in further activation of CMV activity.

Rapid and efficient homing of human CD34(+)CD38(-/low)CXCR4(+) stem and progenitor cells to the bone marrow and spleen of NOD/SCID and NOD/SCID/B2m(null) mice.

Stem cell homing into the bone microenvironment is the first step in the initiation of marrow-derived blood cells. It is reported that human severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) repopulating cells home and accumulate rapidly, within a few hours, in the bone marrow and spleen of immunodeficient mice previously conditioned with total body irradiation. Primitive CD34(+)CD38(-/low)CXCR4(+) cells capable of engrafting primary and secondary recipient mice selectively homed to the bone marrow and spleen, whereas CD34(-)CD38(-/low)Lin(-) cells were not detected. Moreover, whereas freshly isolated CD34(+)CD38(+/high) cells did not home, in vivo stimulation with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor as part of the mobilization process, or in vitro stem cell factor stimulation for 2 to 4 days, potentiated the homing capabilities of cytokine-stimulated CD34(+)CD38(+) cells. Homing of enriched human CD34(+) cells was inhibited by pretreatment with anti-CXCR4 antibodies. Moreover, primitive CD34(+)CD38(-/low)CXCR4(+) cells also homed in response to a gradient of human stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1), directly injected into the bone marrow or spleen of nonirradiated NOD/SCID mice. Homing was also inhibited by pretreatment of CD34(+) cells with antibodies for the major integrins VLA-4, VLA-5, and LFA-1. Pertussis toxin, an inhibitor of signals mediated by Galpha(i) proteins, inhibited SDF-1-mediated in vitro transwell migration but not adhesion or in vivo homing of CD34(+) cells. Homing of human CD34(+) cells was also blocked by chelerythrine chloride, a broad-range protein kinase C inhibitor. This study reveals rapid and efficient homing to the murine bone marrow by primitive human CD34(+)CD38(-/low)CXCR4(+) cells that is integrin mediated and depends on activation of the protein kinase C signal transduction pathway by SDF-1.

Fetal hemoglobin-expressing nucleated red blood cell frequencies in pregnancies with intrauterine growth restriction.

The objective of this study was to examine whether there is a difference in the frequency of fetal erythroblasts in maternal blood in pregnancies with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) as compared with normal pregnancies. Nucleated red blood cells (NRBC) were isolated from nine pregnant women with ultrasonically diagnosed IUGR (estimated fetal weight less than the 10th percentile for gestational age) and 11 women with appropriately grown fetuses. The frequency of fetal hemoglobin-expressing NRBC (FHE-NRBC) in maternal blood was evaluated by triple density centrifugation and anti-CD71+ magnetic cell sorting, followed by indirect immunocytochemistry for the detection of gamma-chain fetal hemoglobin. The number of FHE-NRBC in 10 ml maternal blood in the IUGR group was higher than in the control group (454.5 vs 56.7, p<0.05). This difference was even more pronounced when FHE-NRBC frequency was calculated relative to the total CD71+ population of cells. There were 118.9 FHE-NRBC per 10(5) CD71+ cells in IUGR pregnancies as compared with 11.5 cells in the control group (p<0.01). There was no difference in the total mean number of CD71+ mononuclear cells between the two groups. The observed increase in the frequency of fetal cells in the maternal circulation found in IUGR pregnancies may be a result of an increase in total NRBC in the fetal circulation or rather of abnormalities in placental structure. This phenomenon may assist in identifying pregnancies at risk for this complication early in the course of the pregnancy, even before actual growth restriction presents itself ultrasonically.

Cytomegalovirus infection of rats increases the neointimal response to vascular injury without consistent evidence of direct infection of the vascular wall.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that infection may play a role in restenosis and atherogenesis; cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the implicated pathogens. To determine a potential causal role of CMV in these disease processes, we assessed whether CMV infection increases the neointimal response to injury of the rat carotid artery. METHODS AND RESULTS: Carotid injury was performed on 60 rats; immediately thereafter, 30 rats were infected with rat CMV, and the other 30 were mock-infected. Six weeks later, rats were euthanized, and the salivary glands, spleen, and carotid arteries were harvested. CMV infection was associated with significant exacerbation of the neointimal response to injury (neointimal to medial ratio 0.81+/-0. 59 versus 0.31+/-0.38 in CMV-infected versus control rats; P<0.0001). This occurred despite absence of infectious virus from vascular tissues and detection of CMV DNA by polymerase chain reaction in the injured artery only at day 3 after infection. Persistent distant infection, associated with systemic cytokine response, was evidenced by isolation of infectious virus from homogenates of both salivary glands and spleen and by higher serum levels of interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-4 (but not interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha) in infected versus noninfected rats. CONCLUSIONS: CMV infection of immunocompetent adult rats increases the neointimal response to vascular injury, suggesting that CMV may play a causal role in atherosclerosis/restenosis. Importantly, this CMV-induced response occurs even without the presence of virus in the vascular wall, suggesting that inflammatory and immune responses to infection of nonvascular tissues may contribute to the vascular response to injury.

Phylogenetic relationships among Lactuca (Asteraceae) species and related genera based on ITS-1 DNA sequences.

Internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1) sequences from 97 accessions representing 23 species of Lactuca and related genera were determined and used to evaluate species relationships of Lactuca sensu lato (s.l.). The ITS-1 phylogenies, calculated using PAUP and PHYLIP, correspond better to the classification of Feráková than to other classifications evaluated, although the inclusion of sect. Lactuca subsect. Cyanicae is not supported. Therefore, exclusion of subsect. Cyanicae from Lactuca sensu Feráková is proposed. The amended genus contains the entire gene pool (sensu Harlan and De Wet) of cultivated lettuce (Lactuca sativa). The position of the species in the amended classification corresponds to their position in the lettuce gene pool. In the ITS-1 phylogenies, a clade with L. sativa, L. serriola, L. dregeana, L. altaica, and L. aculeata represents the primary gene pool. L. virosa and L. saligna, branching off closest to this clade, encompass the secondary gene pool. L. virosa is possibly of hybrid origin. The primary and secondary gene pool species are classified in sect. Lactuca subsect. Lactuca. The species L. quercina, L. viminea, L. sibirica, and L. tatarica, branching off next, represent the tertiary gene pool. They are classified in Lactuca sect. Lactucopsis, sect. Phaenixopus, and sect. Mulgedium, respectively. L. perennis and L. tenerrima, classified in sect. Lactuca subsect. Cyanicae, form clades with species from related genera and are not part of the lettuce gene pool.

Monocytes harboring cytomegalovirus: interactions with endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Possible mechanisms for activating virus delivered by monocytes to sites of vascular injury.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and its periodic reactivation from latency may contribute to atherogenesis and restenosis. It is unknown how CMV is delivered to the vessel wall and is reactivated. We examined the following hypothesis: CMV, present in monocytes recruited to sites of vascular injury, is activated by endothelial cell (EC) or smooth muscle cell (SMC) contact and by oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDLs). The CMV major immediate-early promoter (MIEP) controls immediate-early (IE) gene expression, and thereby viral replication. To determine whether elements of the vessel wall can activate CMV present in monocytes, we transiently transfected the promonocytic cell line HL-60 with a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene construct driven by MIEP. MIEP activity increased 1.7 +/- 0.5-fold (P = .02) when the transfected HL-60 cells were cocultured with ECs, 4.5 +/- 1.5-fold when cocultured with SMCs (P = .03), and 2.0 +/- 0.5-fold (P = .01) when exposed to oxLDL. The combination of oxLDL and EC coculture increased MIEP activity over 7-fold. We also found that freshly isolated human monocytes, infected with endothelium-passaged CMV, were capable of transmitting infectious virus to cocultured ECs or SMCs. CMV-related progression of atherosclerosis or restenosis may, at least in part, involve monocyte delivery of the virus to the site of vascular injury, where the vascular milieu, ie, contact with ECs, SMCs, and oxLDL, can contribute to viral reactivation and/or replication by enhancing CMV IE gene expression. The virus may then infect neighboring ECs or SMCs, initiating a cascade of events predisposing to the development of atherogenesis-related processes.

Human cytomegalovirus increases modified low density lipoprotein uptake and scavenger receptor mRNA expression in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Evidence suggests a possible role for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in the development of arteriosclerosis. One of the earliest events in plaque formation is the accumulation of lipid-laden foam cells, derived from macrophages and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). The lipid accumulation that occurs depends upon the uptake of oxidized LDL (Ox-LDL), a process in which the scavenger receptor (SR) has been postulated to play an important role. We therefore examined the effects of HCMV on this process. We demonstrate that HCMV infection of human SMCs increases modified LDL uptake and stimulates class A SR gene (SR-A) mRNA expression. In addition, infection of rat SMCs with HCMV, which causes immediate early gene expression (IE72/IE84), but no early or late HCMV gene products and no cytopathic effects, also increases SMC uptake of Ox-LDL and acetylated LDL, with either effect blocked by an excess of either cold Ox-LDL or acetylated-LDL, and by fucoidin, an SR competitor. Cotransfection of an IE72, but not an IE84, expression plasmid and a plasmid containing a Class A SR promoter/reporter gene construct enhances SR promoter activity. Since increased Ox-LDL uptake is believed to play an important role in arteriosclerosis, these results provide a link between HCMV infection and arteriosclerotic plaque formation.

Comparative effects of basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor on coronary collateral development and the arterial response to injury.

BACKGROUND: We have shown that the angiogenic peptides basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) enhance canine coronary collateral development when administered for > or = 4 weeks. bFGF, a pluripotent mitogen of mesodermally derived cells, could theoretically exacerbate neointimal smooth muscle cell hyperplasia, a fundamental component of atherosclerosis. VEGF, an endothelial cell-specific mitogen and vascular permeability factor, could have deleterious effects related to vascular hyperpermeability. The present investigation had two aims: (1) to ascertain whether brief (7-day) systemic arterial treatment with bFGF or VEGF would improve myocardial collateral perfusion and (2) to determine whether these peptides induce neointimal accumulation in vivo. METHODS AND RESULTS: Dogs were subjected to ameroid-induced occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery and randomized to bFGF 1.74 mg (n = 9), VEGF 0.72 mg (n = 9), or saline (n = 10) as a daily left atrial bolus (days 10 to 16). Additional dogs were randomized to VEGF 0.72 mg (n = 6) or saline (n = 5); however, treatment was delayed by 1 week. Coincident with the institution of treatment, all dogs underwent balloon denudation injury of the iliofemoral artery. bFGF markedly increased maximal collateral flow but did not exacerbate neointimal accumulation. VEGF had no discernible effect on maximal collateral flow, but it exacerbated neointimal thickening after vascular injury. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term treatment with bFGF enhanced collateral development without increasing neointimal accumulation at sites of vascular injury. Although VEGF did not increase collateral development as administered in this study, it significantly exacerbated neointimal accumulation. These data provide support for the clinical investigation of bFGF in selected patients with ischemic heart disease.

Selective killing of transformed rat cells by minute virus of mice does not require infectious virus production.

Fischer rat fibroblasts, naturally resistant to killing by the fibrotropic strain of minute virus of mice [(parvovirus MVM(p)], became sensitive to MVM when transformed by polyomavirus. This sensitization did not involve an increase in the percentage of cells which synthesized viral capsid antigens or in the percentage of cells which produced infectious virus. The addition of anti-MVM antiserum to the growth medium of MVM-infected cells had only a small effect on their survival rates, indicating that the majority of the killing effect of MVM occurs in a single cycle of infection. The data indicate that cell killing by MVM is independent of infectious virus production and thus support the notion that the preferential cytolytic effect is affected by viral cytotoxic gene products which accumulate to intolerable levels in transformed cells but not in normal ones. Finally, using cells transformed with polyomavirus and genomic and subgenomic clones of polyomavirus, we showed that the extent of sensitization to killing by MVM depended on the transforming agent used.

Sensitization of transformed rat fibroblasts to killing by parvovirus minute virus of mice correlates with an increase in viral gene expression.

Cultures of established rat fibroblasts transformed by the avian erythroblastosis virus were more susceptible to the cytopathic effect of the autonomous parvovirus minute virus of mice, prototype strain (MVMp), than were their untransformed homologs. This effect could be ascribed to the presence of a greater fraction of cells that were sensitive to the killing action of MVMp in transformed cultures than in their normal parents. Yet, transformed and normal lines were similarly efficient in virus uptake, DNA amplification, and capsid protein synthesis. In contrast, transformants accumulated 2.5- to 3-fold greater amounts of all three major MVM mRNA species and nonstructural protein than did their normal progenitors. Thus, in this system transformation-associated sensitization of cells to MVMp appears to correlate primarily with an increase in their capacity for the expression of the viral transcription unit which encodes nonstructural proteins and is controlled by the P4 promoter. Consistently, a reporter gene was expressed at a higher level by transformed versus normal cultures, when placed under the control of the MVM P4 promoter. As infectious MVMp was produced in larger amounts by transformed cultures, a late step of the parvoviral cycle, such as synthesis, encapsidation of progeny DNA, or both, was also stimulated in the transformed cells.

Development-dependent replication of minute virus of mice in differentiated mouse testicular cell lines.

The replication of the autonomous parvovirus, minute virus of mice (MVM), requires mitotically active cells and depends on certain factors expressed by cells of particular differentiated phenotype. As an approach to the understanding of these helper functions, we studied the interaction of the fibrotropic [MVM(p)] and the lymphotropic [MVM(i)] strains of MVM with two differentiated cell lines from mouse testicular epithelial origins. The relative support given to viral expression by these cell lines varied extensively. Cells from Sertoli origin (TM4) were permissive to MVM(p) but were mostly restrictive to MVM(i). The other cell line, of Leydig cell origin (TM3), was highly restrictive to both viral strains, but the blocks to their growth in these cells were localized at different stages of their growth cycle, suggesting that the replication of MVM in these cells requires tissue-specific helper functions during at least two stages of viral replication.

Suppression of Ehrlich ascites tumors in mice by minute virus of mice.

As a model system to study parvoviral oncosuppression, Ehrlich ascites (EA) cells were injected into the peritoneal cavities of ICR mice, and the effect of im injection of minute virus of mice (MVM) on EA tumor growth was examined. Coinjection with MVM resulted in a dramatic inhibition of EA tumor formation. Tumor suppression required viable, infectious virus. Mice that had survived one EA-MVM coinjection acquired long-term resistance to additional injections of EA cells.