Transplantation of human undifferentiated embryonic stem cells into a myocardial infarction rat model

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells hold great therapeutic potential for cell transplantation. To date, it remains uncertain whether undifferentiated hES cells can differentiate into cardiac lineage in vivo during myocardial infarction. Here we provide the first report that undifferentiated hES cells can survive in rat hearts during myocardial infarction without the formation of teratoma using undifferentiated green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transgenic hES cells. Using a laser-capture microscope to dissect the GFP-positive cell area from the hES-injected hearts, we documented the expression of human cardiac-specific genes, including GATA-4, Nkx-2.5, and cardiac troponin I. Taken together, our results demonstrate that undifferentiated hES cells can be driven to the cardiac lineage under the local injured environment in the heart, which may provide a potential method for regenerating de novo myocardium to treat myocardial infarction.