Small molecule cardiogenol C upregulates cardiac markers and induces cardiac functional properties in lineage-committed progenitor cells.

Background/aims: Cell transplantation into the heart is a new therapy after myocardial infarction. Its success, however, is impeded by poor donor cell survival and by limited transdifferentiation of the transplanted cells into functional cardiomyocytes. A promising strategy to overcome these problems is the induction of cardiomyogenic properties in donor cells by small molecules.

Methods: Here we studied cardiomyogenic effects of the small molecule compound cardiogenol C (CgC), and structural derivatives thereof, on lineage-committed progenitor cells by various molecular biological, biochemical, and functional assays.

Results: Treatment with CgC up-regulated cardiac marker expression in skeletal myoblasts. Importantly, the compound also induced cardiac functional properties: first, cardiac-like sodium currents in skeletal myoblasts, and secondly, spontaneous contractions in cardiovascular progenitor cell-derived cardiac bodies.

Conclusion: CgC induces cardiomyogenic function in lineage-committed progenitor cells, and can thus be considered a promising tool to improve cardiac repair by cell therapy.