Mesoangioblasts (green) are better able to cross blood vessels (red) when they are first pretreated with cytokines (right).

Stem cells become much more efficient at muscle repair if they first get a boost of cytokines and migratory adhesion molecules, report Galvez et al. (page 231). The improved repair stems from better homing abilities.

Skeletal muscle can be repaired by a class of stem cells known as mesangioblasts, which reside within blood vessels. Injection of mesoangioblasts into the femoral artery of mice improves muscle function in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy. Only a small fraction of the injected cells enters the tissue after injection, however. With their new findings, the authors report how to increase this fraction.

The authors found that mesoangioblasts efficiently crossed endothelium-coated filters in vitro when the other side held either mature myotubes or muscle-associated cytokines, such as SDF-1. Immature myoblasts,...

The Rockefeller University Press
2006
The Rockefeller University Press
2006
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