Modern semi-automatic set-up for testing cell migration with impact for therapy of myocardial infarction

Abstract

Ischemic heart disease and resulting acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in industrial countries. The idea for the modern therapeutic strategy, which should activate the migration of stem/progenitor cells or reduce the migration of inflammatory cells in AMI regions, has emerged in the last 15 years, mainly as a result of physiological observation and post-mortem histology. Published data from direct measurements of cell migration are very limited. We prepared a universal set-up that can be used for the testing of cell migration in AMI micro-environment. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), the most commonly used stem/progenitor cells in experimental cellular therapy for AMI, were used in the recent set-up tests. The cells, which should be tested for their migration potential, were injected into the starting point in a special micro-chamber on the substrate, and optics of the microscope allowed a time-lapse recording of cells in micrometre resolution every 2 min. Our software tools provided precise 2D and 3D tracking of moving cells and data export for statistical analysis. Set-up should be upgraded to a fully-automatic preclinical screening tool in the future.