Cardiac Nestin+ mesenchymal stromal cells enhance healing of ischemic heart through Periostin-mediated M2 macrophage polarization

Abstract Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) show potential for treating cardiovascular diseases, but their therapeutic efficacy exhibits significant heterogeneity depending on the tissue of origin. This study sought to identify an optimal source of MSCs for cardiovascular disease therapy. We demonstrated that Nestin was a suitable marker for cardiac MSCs (Nes+cMSCs), which were identified by their self-renewal ability, tri-lineage differentiation potential, and expression of MSC markers. Further, compared with bone marrow-derived Nes+bmMSCs or saline-treated MI controls, intramyocardial injection of Nes+cMSCs significantly improved cardiac function and decreased infarct size after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) through paracrine actions, rather than transdifferentiation into cardiac cells in infarcted heart. We further revealed that Nes+cMSCs treatment notably reduced pan-macrophage infiltration while inducing macrophages toward an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype in ischemic myocardium. Interestingly, Periostin, which was highly expressed in Nes+cMSCs, could promote the polarization of M2-subtype macrophages, and knockdown or neutralization of Periostin remarkably reduced the therapeutic effects of Nes+cMSCs by decreasing M2 macrophages at lesion sites. Thus, the present work systemically shows that Nes+cMSCs have greater efficacy than Nes+bmMSCs for cardiac healing post-AMI, and that this occurs at least partly through Periostin-mediated M2 macrophage polarization.