Endothelial growth medium suppresses apoptosis of mesenchymal stem cells in vitro via decrease of miR-29a

The administration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in cases of cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) has been associated with a significant reduction of myocardial cell death and an effective improvement in cardiac function. However, one major limiting factor in MSCs transplantation therapy is the low survival rate of the transplanted cells. The present study aimed to demonstrate that human amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) cultured with endothelial growth medium (EGM-2) exhibited reduced apoptosis when exposed to serum-free and hypoxic conditions; and that the expression of microRNA (miR)-29a decreased significantly. Furthermore, miR-29a knockdown resulted in decreased apoptosis of hAMSCs and increased myeloid cell leukemia (MCL)-1 at the mRNA and protein levels. These results suggested that EGM-2 promoted survival of hAMSCs partly through the regulation of miR-29a and MCL-1 expression levels. These findings may provide a novel understanding of a potential effective therapeutic strategy for cardiac IRI.