Cord blood-derived CD133  cells improve cardiac function after
myocardial infarction

The results, which appear in the January 2010 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, show that expanded cells ex vivo exhibited increased expression of mature endothelial cells markers and formed tubule-like structures in vitro. Only the expanded cells expressed VEGF mRNA.

Cells were expanded up to 70-fold during 60 days of culture, and they retained their functional activity. A significant improvement was observed in left ventricular ejection fraction for purified and expanded cells. In summary, CD133+ cells were purified from HUCB, expanded in vitro without losing their biological activity, and both purified and expanded cells showed promising results for use in cellular cardiomyoplasty. However, further pre-clinical testing should be performed to determine whether expanded CD133+ cells have any clinical advantages over purified CD133+ cells.

Steven R. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine said "This study suggests that the use of human umbilical cord blood-derived purified and expanded CD133+ cells may show promise for use in cellular cardiomyoplasty. This finding needs subsequent pre-clinical testing but may prove to be very important in future treatments."

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Adapted from materials provided by Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.