Injection of Cardiac Stem Cells Prolongs the Survival of Cardiac Allograft Rats

Cardiac c-kit + cells isolated from cardiac explant-derived cells modestly improve cardiac functions after myocardial infarction; however, their full potential has not yet been realized. The present study was undertaken to determine the isolation and culture of c-kit + cardiac stem cells (CSCs), and the roles of myocardial injection of CSCs on the survival of rat cardiac allograft. Recipient Sprague-Dawley rats were transplanted with hearts from Wistar rats. in the in vitro experiment, c-kit + cells were isolated from mouse heart fragment culture by magnetic cell sorting. CSCs expressed of cardiomyocyte specific protein cardiac troponin I, α smooth muscle actin and von Willebrand factor in conditioned culture. CsC injection increased graft survival of cardiac allograft rats. The effects of CSCs on increase in graft survival of cardiac allograft rats were blocked by stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) knockdown. The expression of SDF-1 was increased after CSC injection into the cardiac of cardiac allograft rats. These results indicate that CSC injection into the cardiac prolongs graft survival of cardiac allograft rats. SDF-1 plays an important role in the effects of CSCs on the graft survival of cardiac allograft rats.