Rationale Myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of death in developed nations, and there remains a need for cardiac therapeutic systems that mitigate tissue damage and. Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) and other stem cell types are attractive candidates for treatment of MI; however, the benefit of these cells may be due to paracrine effects. Objective We tested the hypothesis that CPCs secrete pro-regenerative exosomes in response to hypoxic conditions. Methods and Results The angiogenic and anti-fibrotic potential of secreted exosomes on cardiac endothelial cells and cardiac fibroblasts were assessed. We found that CPC exosomes secreted in response to hypoxia enhanced tube formation of endothelial cells and decreased pro-fibrotic gene expression in TGF-β stimulated fibroblasts, indicating that these exosomes possess therapeutic potential. Microarray analysis of exosomes secreted by hypoxic CPCs identified eleven miRNAs that were upregulated compared to exosomes secreted by CPCs grown under normoxic conditions. Principle component analysis was performed to identify miRNAs that were co-regulated in response to distinct exosome generating conditions. To investigate the cue-signal-response relationships of these miRNA clusters with a physiological outcome of tube formation or fibrotic gene expression, partial least squares regression analysis was applied. The importance of each up- or downregulated miRNA on physiological outcomes was determined. Finally, to validate the model we delivered exosomes following ischemia-reperfusion injury. Exosomes from hypoxic CPCs improved cardiac function and reduced fibrosis. Conclusions These data provide a foundation for subsequent research of the use of exosomal miRNA and systems biology as therapeutic strategies for the damaged heart.
Congenital heart defects are present in 8 of 1000 newborns and palliative surgical therapy has increased survival. Despite improved outcomes, many children develop reduced cardiac function and heart failure requiring transplantation. Human cardiac progenitor cell (hCPC) therapy has potential to repair the pediatric myocardium through release of reparative factors, but therapy suffers from limited hCPC retention and functionality. Decellularized cardiac extracellular matrix hydrogel (cECM) improves heart function in animals, and human trials are ongoing. In the present study, a 3D bioprinted patch containing cECM for delivery of pediatric hCPCs is developed. Cardiac patches are printed with bioinks composed of cECM, hCPCs, and gelatin methacrylate (GelMA). GelMA-cECM bioinks print uniformly with a homogeneous distribution of cECM and hCPCs. hCPCs maintain >75% viability and incorporation of cECM within patches results in a 30-fold increase in cardiogenic gene expression of hCPCs compared to hCPCs grown in pure GelMA patches. Conditioned media from GelMA-cECM patches show increased angiogenic potential (>2-fold) over GelMA alone as seen by improved endothelial cell tube formation. Finally, patches are retained on rat hearts and show vascularization over 14 days in vivo. This work shows the successful bioprinting and implementation of cECM-hCPC patches for potential use in repairing damaged myocardium.
Rationale Studies have demonstrated that exosomes can repair cardiac tissue post myocardial infarction (MI) and recapitulate the benefits of cellular therapy. Objective We evaluated the role of donor age and hypoxia of human pediatric cardiac progenitor cell (CPC)-derived exosomes, in a rat model of ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury. Methods and Results Human CPCs from the right atrial appendages from children of different ages undergoing cardiac surgery for congenital heart defects were isolated and cultured under hypoxic or normoxic conditions. Exosomes were isolated from the culture-conditioned media and delivered to athymic rats following IR injury. Echocardiography at day-3 post-MI suggested statistically improved function in neonatal hypoxic and neonatal normoxic groups compared to saline-treated controls. At 28 days post-MI exosomes derived from neonatal normoxia, neonatal hypoxia, infant hypoxia, and child hypoxia significantly improved cardiac function compared to saline-treated controls. Staining showed decreased fibrosis and improved angiogenesis in hypoxic groups compared to controls. Finally, using sequencing data, a computational model was generated to link microRNA levels to specific outcomes. Conclusion CPC exosomes derived from neonates improved cardiac function independent of culture oxygen levels, while CPC-exosomes from older children were not reparative unless subjected to hypoxic conditions. Cardiac functional improvements were associated with increased angiogenesis, reduced fibrosis and improved hypertrophy resulting in improved cardiac function; however, mechanisms for normoxic neonatal CPC exosomes improved function independent of those mechanisms. This is the first study of its kind demonstrating that donor age and oxygen content in the microenvironment significantly alter the efficacy of human CPC-derived exosomes.
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