Differentiation-Associated MicroRNA Alterations in Mouse Heart-Derived Sca-1+CD31- and Sca-1+CD31+ Cells

Abstract

Cardiac resident stem/progenitor cells (CSC/CPCs) are critical to the cellular and functional integrity of the heart because they maintain myocardial cell homeostasis. Several populations of CSC/CPCs have been identified based on expression of different stem cell-associated antigens. Sca-1+ cells in the cardiac tissue may be the most common CSC/CPCs. However, they are a heterogeneous cell population and, in transplants, clinicians might transplant more endothelial cells, cardiomyocytes, or other cells than stem cells. The purposes of this study were to (1) isolate CSC/CPCs with Lin-CD45-Sca-1+CD31- and Lin-CD45-Sca-1+CD31+ surface antigens using flow-activated cell sorting; (2) investigate their differentiation potential; and (3) determine the molecular basis for differences in stemness characteristics between cell subtypes. The results indicated that mouse heart-derived Sca-1+CD31- cells were multipotent and retained the ability to differentiate into different cardiac cell lineages, but Sca-1+CD31+ cells did not. Integrated analysis of microRNA and mRNA expression indicated that 20 microRNAs and 49 mRNAs were inversely associated with Sca-1+CD31- and Sca-1+CD31+ subtype stemness characteristics. In particular, mmu-miR-322-5p had more targeted and inversely associated genes and transcription factors and might have higher potential for CSC/CPCs differentiation.