Liposome-mediated transfection with extract from neonatal rat cardiomyocytes induces transdifferentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells into cardiomyocytes

Objective. Recent studies indicate that direct cell-to-cell interaction is involved in transdifferentiation of adult stem cells into cardiomyocytes. We investigated whether transdifferentiation of human adipose-tissue-derived stem cells could be achieved by transfecting the cells with a nuclear neonatal cardiomyocyte extract using a liposome-based transfection system. Material and methods. In this study, we isolated stem cells derived from human subcutaneous adipose tissue. These cells were transfected with nuclear protein extracts from either isolated cardiomyocytes or whole hearts of neonatal rats. Results. We found that transfection induced expression of the cardiac markers α-sarcomeric actin, Nk x 2.5, troponin I and troponin T after 1-3 weeks. Whole-heart protein extracts showed the additional capacity to induce differentiation into endothelial-like and smooth muscle-like cells. Conclusion. We demonstrate that transfection with nuclear protein extracts from neonatal rat cardiomyocytes can induce a cardiomyogenic differentiation pathway in human stem cells.