Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná 及Instituto Carlos Chagas 的研究人员利用取自人类脐带血经增生后的CD133+ 细胞直接注入心肌梗塞的大鼠心脏，评估做为治疗心肌梗塞的可行性。有心脏血管高危险因子的病人通常有较少的血管先驱细胞，这些血管先驱细胞在试管内的培养也较衰老静止，因此使用来自人类脐带血的血管先驱细胞是另一个方式可以补充病人或老人受损的干细胞功能。
研究人员发现这些扩增后的细胞会有成熟血管细胞的标帜，在试管内也会形成管状的构造，也有血管内皮生长因子讯息RNA的表达，细胞经60天培养可以增加70倍，仍维持其功能。给予此纯化及扩增的细胞可以显著地增加左心室血量射出比率，改善心收缩功能。总结的说，来自脐带血纯化的CD133+ 细胞经增生后，不失去其生物活性功能，不论纯化或增生的细胞在心肌细胞的重塑治疗上都有好的效果。当然更进一步的临床前试验必须先进行以评估增生的CD133+ 细胞是否比纯化的CD133+ 细胞有更佳的临床治疗效果。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Exp. Biol. Med. 2010;235:vi doi:10.1258/ebm.2009.009f01
Cord blood-derived CD133+ cells improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction
Researchers at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná and Instituto Carlos Chagas have evaluated the therapeutic potential of purified and expanded CD133+ cells human umbilical cord blood (HUCB)-derived in treating myocardial infarction by intramyocardially injecting them into a rat model. Patients who have high cardiovascular risks have fewer endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and their EPCs exhibit greater in vitro senescence. HUCB-derived EPCs could be an alternative to rescue impaired stem cell function in the sick and elderly. The results, which appear on page 119 of this issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, show that expanded cells ex vivo exhibited increased expression of mature endothelial cells markers and formed tubule-like structures in vitro. Only the expanded cells expressed VEGF mRNA. Cells were expanded up to 70-fold during 60 days of culture, and they retained their functional activity. A significant improvement was observed in left ventricular ejection fraction for purified and expanded cells. In summary, CD133+ cells were purified from HUCB, expanded in vitro without losing their biological activity, and both purified and expanded cells showed promising results for use in cellular cardiomyoplasty. However, further preclinical testing should be performed to determine whether expanded CD133+ cells have any clinical advantages over purified CD133+ cells
