C-Kit Positive Cardiac Stem Cells and Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Synergistically Enhance Angiogenesis and Improve Cardiac Function after Myocardial Infarction in a Paracrine Manner

Highlights • Intramyocardial injection of CSCs boosts post-myocardial infarction (MI) angiogenesis to improve cardiac function in a paracrine manner by enhancing the expression of pro-angiogenic factors. • CSCs and BM-MSCs synergistically inhibit CSC/BM-MSC apoptosis and enhance their proliferation in a paracrine manner. This leads to a larger number of transplanted cells remaining in the post-MI myocardium after co-injection of CSCs and BM-MSCs, and therefore the accumulation of more pro-angiogenic factors in the heart tissue, compared to transplantation of CSCs or MSCs alone. • Transplantation of both CSCs and BM-MSCs is superior to transplantation of either CSCs or BM-MSCs alone to boost post-MI angiogenesis and improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction.