Abstract
With multipotent differentiation potential and paracrine capacity, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely applied in clinical practice for the treatment of ischemic heart disease. MSCs are a heterogeneous population and the specific population of MSCs may exhibit a selective ability for tissue repair. The aim of our research was to adapt the CD73+ subgroup of adipose derived MSCs (AD-MSCs) for the therapy of myocardial infarction (MI). In this research, AD-MSCs were isolated from adipose tissue surrounding the groin of mice and CD73+ AD-MSCs were sorted using flow cytometry. To investigate the therapeutic effects of CD73+ AD-MSCs, 1.2 × 106 CD73+ AD-MSCs were transplanted into rat model of MI, and CD73- AD-MSCs, normal AD-MSCs transplantation served as control. Our results revealed that CD73+ AD-MSCs played a more effective role in the acceleration function of cardiac recovery by promoting angiogenesis in a rat model of MI compared with mixed AD-MSCs and CD73- AD-MSCs. Moreover, with the expression of CD73 in AD-MSCs, the secretion of VEGF, SDF-1α, and HGF factors could be promoted. It also shows differences between CD73+ and CD73- AD-MSCs when the transcription profiles of these two subgroups were compared, especially in VEGF pathway. These findings raise an attractive outlook on CD73+ AD-MSCs as a dominant subgroup for treating MI-induced myocardial injury. CD73, a surface marker, can be used as a MSCs cell quality control for the recovery of MI by accelerating angiogenesis.