Abstract
Inefficient cardiomyocyte differentiation limits the therapeutic use of embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived cardiomyocytes. While large collections of proprietary chemicals had been screened to improve ES cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes, the natural product library remained unexplored. Using a mouse ES cell line transfected with a cardiomyocyte-specific α-myosin heavy chain promoter-driven enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter, we screened 24 natural products with known cardioprotective actions. Salvianolic acid B (saB), while produced minimal effect on its own, concentration-dependently synergized with vitamin C in inducing cardiomyocyte differentiation, as demonstrated by an increase in EGFP+ cells, beating area in embryoid bodies, and expression of cardiomyocyte maturity markers. This synergy is specific to cardiomyocyte differentiation, and is involved with collagen synthesis. The present study demonstrates the saB-vitamin C synergy in inducing ES cell differentiation into matured and functional cardiomyocytes, and this may lead to a practicable cocktail approach to generate ES cell-derived cardiomyocytes for cardiac stem cell therapy.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 723-728 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications |
| Volume | 387 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2 2009 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the National Science Council (Grant No. NSC 97IR082, NSC 96-2314-B-006-021), the National Health Research Institutes (Grant No. NHRI EX97-9722SI), and the NCKU Landmark Project (Grant No. 97I006).
Keywords
- Cardiomyocyte differentiation
- Embryonic stem cells
- Natural products