c-kit Haploinsufficiency impairs adult cardiac stem cell growth, myogenicity and myocardial regeneration

An overdose of Isoproterenol (ISO) causes acute cardiomyocyte (CM) dropout and activates the resident cardiac c-kit(pos) stem/progenitor cells (CSCs) generating a burst of new CM formation that replaces those lost to ISO. Recently, unsuccessful attempts to reproduce these findings using c-kit(Cre) knock-in (KI) mouse models were reported. We tested whether c-kit haploinsufficiency in c-kit(Cre)KI mice was the cause of the discrepant results in response to ISO. Male C57BL/6J wild-type (wt) mice and c-kit(Cre)KI mice were given a single dose of ISO (200 and/or 400 mg/Kg s.c.). CM formation was measured with different doses and duration of BrdU or EdU. We compared the myogenic and regenerative potential of the c-kit(Cre)CSCs with wtCSCs. Acute ISO overdose causes LV dysfunction with dose-dependent CM death by necrosis and apoptosis, whose intensity follows a basal-apical and epicardium to sub-endocardium gradient, with the most severe damage confined to the apical sub-endocardium. The damage triggers significant new CM formation mainly in the apical sub-endocardial layer. c-kit haploinsufficiency caused by c-kit(Cre)KIs severely affects CSCs myogenic potential. c-kit(Cre)KI mice post-ISO fail to respond with CSC activation and show reduced CM formation and suffer chronic cardiac dysfunction. Transplantation of wtCSCs rescued the defective regenerative cardiac phenotype of c-kit(Cre)KI mice. Furthermore, BAC-mediated transgenesis of a single c-kit gene copy normalized the functional diploid c-kit content of c-kit(Cre)KI CSCs and fully restored their regenerative competence. Overall, these data show that c-kit haploinsufficiency impairs the endogenous cardioregenerative response after injury affecting CSC activation and CM replacement. Repopulation of c-kit haploinsufficient myocardial tissue with wtCSCs as well c-kit gene deficit correction of haploinsufficient CSCs restores CM replacement and functional cardiac repair. Thus, adult neo-cardiomyogenesis depends on and requires a diploid level of c-kit.