Background
Randomized controlled trials report conflicting data about the beneficial effects of bone marrow cells for treating ischemic cardiovascular disease. Cell therapy also faces technical and practical limitations. Because evidence indicates that stem cells exert their pro-angiogenic functions through paracrine mechanisms, in this study we evaluated the angiogenic efficacy of cell-free secretions of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and compared it with that of VEGF as a known single potent angiogenic factor.
Methods
MSC-derived conditioned medium (CM) was harvested from culture-expanded MSCs that had been exposed to desferroxamine for 72 h. Concentrated CM (CCM) was characterized by ELISA for the presence of known angiogenic factors. In vivo angiogenesis was measured with a matrigel plug assay. Male C57 Bl/6 mice were subcutaneously injected with matrigel containing CCM, 10-fold diluted CCM, rhVEGF at a similar concentration of VEGF measured in CCM (50 ng/ml), or PBS (negative control) ( n =6 per group). After 14 days, plugs were harvested and stained with H&E and anti-CD31 to assess cell and vessel density.
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