Experimental Cell Transplantation Therapy in Rat Myocardial Infarction Model Including Nude Rat Preparation

Protocol
First Online:
Part of the Methods in Molecular Biology book series (MIMB, volume 660)

Abstract

As a novel potential therapeutic strategy for cardiac disease, cell transplantation therapy has been extensively investigated in experimental studies and clinical trials. Although encouraging results have been demonstrated, a number of critical questions still remain to be answered. For example, what kind of stem cell and how many cells should be used; what is the best time for cell transplantation after acute myocardial infarction; which delivery approach is better, intravenous injection or direct intramyocardial injection? Transplantation of cells derived from human tissues into experimental animals may elicit an immune rejection. Immunodeficient nude rats provide a useful myocardial infarction model for cell transplantation therapy studies. We introduce our detailed methods of direct intramyocardial injection of immature heart cells and stem cells into the myocardial infarction region of rats and nude rats. Careful maintenance under aseptic conditions and proper surgical technique are essential to improve the survival of immunodeficient rats after surgery.

Key words

Cell transplantation therapy Myocardial infarction Stem cell Nude rat 
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Notes

Acknowledgment

This work was supported in part by grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01-HL073709), the Los Angeles Thoracic and Cardiovascular Foundation, and ES Cell International Pte Ltd in Singapore.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Good Samaritan Hospital, The Heart InstituteDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine of the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesUSA

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