Differentiation of human adult cardiac stem cells exposed to extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields

Aims Modulation of cardiac stem cell (CSC) differentiation with minimal manipulation is one of the main goals of clinical applicability of cell therapy for heart failure. CSCs, obtained from human myocardial bioptic specimens and grown as cardiospheres (CSps) and cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs), c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cardiovascular research 2009-06, Vol.82 (3), p.411-420
Main Authors: Gaetani, Roberto, Ledda, Mario, Barile, Lucio, Chimenti, Isotta, De Carlo, Flavia, Forte, Elvira, Ionta, Vittoria, Giuliani, Livio, D'Emilia, Enrico, Frati, Giacomo, Miraldi, Fabio, Pozzi, Deleana, Messina, Elisa, Grimaldi, Settimio, Giacomello, Alessandro, Lisi, Antonella
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult Stem Cells - radiation effects
Biological and medical sciences
Ca2+ ion cyclotron resonance
Calcium - metabolism
Cardiac regenerative medicine
Cardiology. Vascular system
Cell Culture Techniques
Cell Differentiation - radiation effects
Cell Proliferation - radiation effects
Cells, Cultured
Clinical translation protocols
Electromagnetic Fields
ELF-EMF
Humans
Medical sciences
Myocardium - cytology
Myocardium - metabolism
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Summary:Aims Modulation of cardiac stem cell (CSC) differentiation with minimal manipulation is one of the main goals of clinical applicability of cell therapy for heart failure. CSCs, obtained from human myocardial bioptic specimens and grown as cardiospheres (CSps) and cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs), can engraft and partially regenerate the infarcted myocardium, as previously described. In this paper we assessed the hypothesis that exposure of CSps and CDCs to extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs), tuned at Ca2+ ion cyclotron energy resonance (Ca2+-ICR), may drive their differentiation towards a cardiac-specific phenotype. Methods and results A significant increase in the expression of cardiac markers was observed after 5 days of exposure to Ca2+-ICR in both human CSps and CDCs, as evidenced at transcriptional, translational, and phenotypical levels. Ca2+ mobilization among intracellular storages was observed and confirmed by compartmentalized analysis of Ca2+ fluorescent probes. Conclusions These results suggest that ELF-EMFs tuned at Ca2+-ICR could be used to drive cardiac-specific differentiation in adult cardiac progenitor cells without any pharmacological or genetic manipulation of the cells that will be used for therapeutic purposes.
ISSN:0008-6363
1755-3245
DOI:10.1093/cvr/cvp067