Transient secretion of VEGF protein from transplanted hiPSC-CMs enhances engraftment and improves rat heart function post MI.

ABSTRACT: Cell-based therapies offer an exciting and novel treatment for heart repair following myocardial infarction (MI). However, these therapies often suffer from poor cell viability and engraftment rates, which involve many factors, including the hypoxic conditions of the infarct environment. Meanwhile, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has previously been employed as a therapeutic agent to limit myocardial damage and simultaneously induce neovascularization. This study took an approach to transiently overexpress VEGF protein, in a controlled manner, by transfecting human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) with VEGF mRNA prior to transplantation. The conditioning of iPSC-CMs with VEGF mRNA ultimately led to greater survival rates of the transplanted cells, w

SUBMITTER: Ai X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9840120 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature