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Porcine aortic valve interstitial cells are rich in mesenchymal progenitors
Author(s) -
Chen JanHung,
Yin Yip Cindy Ying,
Sone Eli D.,
Simmons Craig A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.49.12
Subject(s) - progenitor cell , mesenchymal stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , population , biology , bone marrow , multipotent stem cell , progenitor , immunology , stem cell , medicine , environmental health
Advanced valvular lesions often contain mesenchymal tissues that may be elaborated by an unidentified multipotent progenitor subpopulation within the valve interstitium. Objectives: To identify and characterize a subpopulation of mesenchymal progenitor cells in the aortic valve. Methods: The multi‐lineage potential of freshly isolated and subcultured porcine aortic valve interstitial cells (VICs) was tested in vitro. Progenitor frequencies and self‐renewal capacity were determined by limiting dilution and colony‐forming unit (CFU) assays. Results: VICs were inducible to osteogenic, adipogenic, chondrogenic, and myofibrogenic lineages. Primary VICs had strikingly high frequencies of mesenchymal progenitors (57.1 ± 6.1%) and osteoprogenitors (34.4 ± 0.4%). High frequencies were maintained for up to six population doublings but decreased after nine population doublings to 27.8 ± 8.3% and 5.2± 2.1% for mesenchymal progenitors and osteoprogenitors, respectively. We further identified the putative progenitor subpopulation as morphologically‐distinct cells that are highly enriched for osteoprogenitors, occur at high frequency, self‐renew, and elaborate bone matrix from single cells. These novel findings suggest that the aortic valve is rich in a unique multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cell population that is distinct from other vascular progenitor cells. Support: HSFO.