Differentiation-Associated MicroRNA Alterations in Mouse Heart-Derived Sca-1(+)CD31(−) and Sca-1(+)CD31(+) Cells

Cardiac resident stem/progenitor cells (CSC/CPCs) are critical to the cellular and functional integrity of the heart because they maintain myocardial cell homeostasis. Several populations of CSC/CPCs have been identified based on expression of different stem cell-associated antigens. Sca-1(+) cells in the cardiac tissue may be the most common CSC/CPCs. However, they are a heterogeneous cell population and, in transplants, clinicians might transplant more endothelial cells, cardiomyocytes, or other cells than stem cells. The purposes of this study were to (1) isolate CSC/CPCs with Lin(−)CD45(−)Sca-1(+)CD31(−) and Lin(−)CD45(−)Sca-1(+)CD31(+) surface antigens using flow-activated cell sorting; (2) investigate their differentiation potential; and (3) determine the molecular basis for differences in stemness characteristics between cell subtypes. The results indicated that mouse heart-derived Sca-1(+)CD31(−) cells were multipotent and retained the ability to differentiate into different cardiac cell lineages, but Sca-1(+)CD31(+) cells did not. Integrated analysis of microRNA and mRNA expression indicated that 20 microRNAs and 49 mRNAs were inversely associated with Sca-1(+)CD31(−) and Sca-1(+)CD31(+) subtype stemness characteristics. In particular, mmu-miR-322-5p had more targeted and inversely associated genes and transcription factors and might have higher potential for CSC/CPCs differentiation.