Elabela promotes differentiation of wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Elabela is a new type of endogenous receptor of APJ discovered in recent years. It is widely distributed in the adult cardiovascular system and has a certain influence on cardiovascular diseases. However, the effect of Elabela on the differentiation of stem cells into cardiomyocytes and the expression of APJ in cardiomyocyte differentiation has not been studied yet. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Elabela on the differentiation of Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells into cardiomyocytes. METHODS: The frozen mesenchymal stem cells were resuscitated. 5-Azacytidine was used to induce Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into cardiomyocytes when the cell confluence reached 80%-90%. After 24 hours, the medium was replaced by low-glucose medium containing Elabela and 10% fetal bovine serum in the experimental group, and by low-glucose medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum in the control group. At 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after induction, cell morphology was observed. The total RNA and total protein of each group were collected. The myocardial specific markers Nkx2.5, cTnT and Connexin 43 mRNA and protein expression levels were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and western blot assay. The expression of APJ in the induced cardiomyocytes was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and flow cytometry. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The expression levels of myocardial specific markers Nkx2.5, cTnT and Connexin 43 mRNA and protein were higher in the experimental group than in the control group in all stages of differentiation, and the expression of APJ was also higher in the experimental group than in the control group. (2) In summary, Elabela plays a certain promoting role in the differentiation of Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells into oriented cardiomyocytes. Elabela, as another agonist of APJ, can promote the expression of APJ during the induced cell differentiation.