%0 Journal Article
%T Differentiation of Human Dermal Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Cardiomyocytes by Treatment with 5-Azacytidine: Concept for Regenerative Therapy in Myocardial Infarction
%A Pravin D. Potdar
%A Preeti Prasannan
%J ISRN Stem Cells
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/687282
%X Myocardial infarction (MI) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Stem cells regenerative medicine offers a promising approach to cure such degenerative disorders. Mesenchymal stem cells are thought to be one of the important types of stem cells which can differentiate into various lineages such as neuron, hepatocytes, and cardiomyocytes. In the present study, human dermal mesenchymal stem cells (hDMSCs) have been developed from human scalp punch biopsy and characterized for their mesenchymal phenotype so that these cells can be useful for differentiating into cardiomyocytes. 5-Azacytidine induces cardiomyocyte differentiation in vitro and therefore it has been used to differentiate hDMSCs cells into cardiomyocytes. It was observed that hDMSCs differentiated into cardiomyocyte within a period of 4 days to 15 days after treatment with 10£¿¦ÌM and 20£¿¦ÌM of 5-azacytidine. The cardiomyocyte phenotype was confirmed by studying expression of ¦Á-cardiac actin, ¦Â-myosin heavy chain, and cardiac troponin T. Thus, this paper describes the differentiation of hDMSCs into cardiomyocytes which can be further be used for treatment of MI. This type of cell-based cardiac therapy will offer a new hope for millions of patients worldwide who are suffering from heart disease. 1. Introduction Myocardial Infarction (MI) is most commonly known as heart attack. It is one of the leading causes of mortality all over the world mainly due to constant change in lifestyle with ever increasing stress. MI is not only seen among the 50¨C60-year-age group but presently has also become a common reason for death in the younger generation. MI is caused due to shortage of blood supply to a part of the heart which reduces the oxygen supply to the affected area leading to necrosis of the tissue (scar formation) and there is no complete recovery after such damage in adult humans [1]. For several decades, heart transplantation has been an option for therapy, but due to complications arising from host-graft rejection reaction and shortage of healthy donors, there is an immediate need to come up with other feasible options for the therapy of MI. Recent development in stem cell research therapy and cell transplantation delivers great promise for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders [2, 3]. Stem cells show immense promise for their application in medical field due to their unique ability to self-renew along with the potential to differentiate into different cell types. Such remarkable properties of stem cells show great promise in the field of regenerative medicine [4]. Mesenchymal stem cells are
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.stem.cells/2013/687282/