BADANIA KLINICZNE I DOŚWIADCZALNE W CHOROBACH SERCA, PŁUC I NACZYŃ
Scaffold construction for effective transfer of cardiac stem cells to the damaged heart

Specific cardiac stem/progenitor cells (CSCs/CPCs) are multipotent and clonogenic, giving rise to cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. These cells can be used in cell therapy for the treatment of diseased heart tissue, but there is a need for an effective targeting system that directs the cells to the infarcted area. The aim of this study was to monitor changes in CSC/CPC morphology and the percentage of c-kit- and MDR-1-positive cells after culturing on various substrata and in different media.

Myocardial tissue samples were taken from explanted hearts under sterile conditions. After the cells had grown to confluence, they were detached by gentle enzymatic digestion and seeded on poly-D-lysine-coated dishes. After a period of one week, the cells were transferred onto different substrata and cultured with growth factors and without growth factors.

Cells transferred to the culture dishes coated with different substrata presented differences in morphology and in the percentage of c-kit- and MDR-1-positive cells. Higher percentages of c-kit- and MDR-1-positive cells were observed on the fibronectin-coated dishes cultured without growth factors. The data obtained should be useful for the construction of a scaffold dedicated to the effective transfer of c-kit- and MDR-1-positive cells to the damaged heart.