Clonal Differentiation of Skeletal Muscle-Derived CD34−/45− Stem Cells Into Cardiomyocytes In Vivo

The differentiation and/or therapeutic potential of skeletal muscle-derived stem cells for cardiac infarction have been studied extensively for use in cellular cardiomyoplasty, as injured cardiomyocytes exhibit limited regenerative capacity. We previously reported cardio-myogenic differentiation of skeletal muscle-derived CD34 + /45 − (Sk-34) stem cells after therapeutic transplantation. However, the clonal differentiation potential of these cells remains unknown. Here, we show that skeletal muscle-derived CD34 − /45 − (Sk-DN) stem cells, which are situated upstream of Sk-34 cells in the same lineage, exhibit clonal differentiation into cardiomyocytes after single cell-derived single-sphere implantation into myocardium. Sk-DN cells were enzymatically isolated from green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice and purified by flow cytometry, and were then clonally cultured in collagen-based medium with bFGF and EGF after clonal cell sorting. Single cell-derived single-sphere colonies of Sk-DN cells were directly implanted into the wild-type mouse myocardium. At 4 weeks after implantation, donor cells exhibited typical cardiomyocyte structure with the formation of gap-junctions between donor and recipient cells. Expression of specific mRNAs for cardiomyocytes, such as cardiac actin and GATA-4, Nkx2-5, Isl-1, Mef2, and Hand2, were also seen in clonal cell cultures of Sk-DN cells. Cell fusion-independent differentiation was also confirmed by bulk cell transplantation using Cre- and loxP (enhanced GFP)-mice. We conclude that Sk-DN cells can give rise to cardiac muscle cells clonally, and that skeletal muscle includes a practical cell source for cellular cardiomyoplasty.