In vivo cardiac pacemaker function of differentiated human mesenchymal stem cells from adipose tissue transplanted into porcine hearts

Figure 1 Schematic overview of in vivo experiments. Eight healthy pigs (matched in sex, age and weight) were equally and randomly divided into 3 groups [phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), native human mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue, and differentiated human mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue]. Protective implantation of an electronic pacemaker was performed in each pig and cells or PBS were injected into the free left ventricular wall. After a 4-wk period, radiofrequency catheter ablation of the atrioventricular (AV) node was performed to establish third degree AV block in each animal. A 15-d period of observation and testing was followed by animal euthanasia and tissue sampling for histological studies. PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline; nhaMSC: Native human mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue; dhaMSC: Differentiated human mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue; AV: Atrioventricular.