Overexpression of Kir2.1 channel in embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes attenuates posttransplantation proarrhythmic risk in myocardial infarction.

Background: Cellular replacement strategies using embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (ESC-CMs) have been shown to improve left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction and prevent LV remodeling post-myocardial infarction (MI). Nonetheless, the immature electrical phenotypes of ESC-CMs may increase the risk of ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTs) and sudden death.

Objective: To investigate whether the forced expression of Kir2.

Reversal of endothelial progenitor cell dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes using a conditioned medium of human embryonic stem cell-derived endothelial cells.

Background: The potential clinical application of bone marrow or peripheral blood-derived progenitor cells for cardiovascular regeneration in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is limited by their functional impairment. We sought to determine the mechanisms of impaired therapeutic efficacy of peripheral blood-derived progenitor cells in type 2 DM patients and evaluated the use of cell-free conditioned medium obtained from human embryonic stem cell-derived endothelial-like cells (ESC-ECs) to reverse their functional impairment.

Methods: The angiogenic potential of late outgrowth endothelial cells (OECs) and cytokine profile of the conditional medium of proangiogenic cells (PACs) derived from peripheral blood-mononuclear cells of healthy control and DM patients and ESC-ECs was compared by in vitro tube formation assay and a multiplex bead-based immunoassay kit, respectively.

Effects of iron oxide nanoparticles on cardiac differentiation of embryonic stem cells.

The therapeutic potential of transplantation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in animal model of myocardial infarction has been consistently demonstrated. The development of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles labeling and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been increasingly used to track the migration of transplanted cells in vivo allowing cell fate determination. However, the impact of SPIO- labeling on cell phenotype and cardiac differentiation capacity of ESCs remains unclear.