Background: Reproducible and efficient differentiation of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) to cardiomyocytes (CMs) is essential for their use in regenerative medicine, drug testing and disease modeling. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of some previously reported cardiogenic substances on cardiac differentiation of mouse PSCs. Methods: Differentiation was performed by embryoid body (EB)-based method using three different murine PSC lines. The differentiation efficiency was monitored by RT-qPCR, immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry, and the effect mechanistically evaluated by transcriptome analysis of treated EBs. Results: Among the five tested compounds (ascorbic acid, dorsomorphin, cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate, cardiogenol C, cyclosporin A) only ascorbic acid (AA) exerted a strong and reproducible cardiogenic effect in CGR8 cells which was less consistent in other two PSC lines. AA induced only minor changes in transcriptome of CGR8 cells after administration during the initial two days of differentiation. Cardiospecific genes and transcripts involved in angiogenesis, erythropoiesis and hematopoiesis were up-regulated on day 5 but not on days 2 or 3 of differentiation. The cardiac differentiation efficiency was improved when QS11, a small-molecule synergist of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, was added to cultures after AA-treatment. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that only minor transcriptional changes are sufficient for enhancement of cardiogenesis of murine PSCs by AA and that AA and QS11 exhibit synergistic effects and enhance the efficiency of CM differentiation of murine PSCs.

This review presents a generalized definition of vesicles as bilayer extracellular organelles of all celular forms of life: not only eu-, but also prokaryotic. The structure and composition of extracellular vesicles, history of research, nomenclature, their impact on life processes in health and disease are discussed. Moreover, vesicles may be useful as clinical instruments for

In many cases heart valve prosthetics is the only solution to save patient’s life. All mechanical prosthetics currently used are not able to perform function in the body fully because non-living materials are used for their production. Tissue engineering provides the reconstruction of viable valves using stem cells. Acellularized three-dimensional tissue scaffolds as a matrix for autologous cells do improve function of heart valves and promote heart regeneration.

The possibility of using a composite ceramic based on biogenic hydroxyapatite (BHA) as a carrier for cultured stem cells is examined. The results of investigations of the microstructure and biochemical activity of samples of BHA-based glass ceramic with the maximum open porosity, which were prepared for use as substrates for in vitro cloning fibroblast cells, are presented. The results of a visual assessment performed with a fluorescence microscope of cell adhesion and cell proliferation activity on bioresorptive membrane-type substrates made of a composite material based on biogenic hydroxyapatite are also presented.The creation and development of carriers for cellular and bacterial cultures is a necessary step in the development of technology for medical materials science. The main factors having a positive effect on cell preservation and division are the bioactivity, texture, and porous structure of the carrier material.It has been established that a de-mineralized bone matrix possesses stronger inductive properties than hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate and is a better promoter of adhesion and proliferation of cultivated cell lines [1,2]. The use of calcium phosphates combined with sodium or magnesium phosphates with the addition of silicon oxide has been studied in [3], and it has been established that these particular biomaterials have a positive effect on the differentiation of osteoblasts and osteogenesis.Glass ceramic obtained on the basis of synthetic hydroxyapatite and medical sodium silicate glass can also be used as carriers for stem cells [4]. It has been established that the phase of active growth of a human diploid cell culture proceeds best with high open porosity and permeability of substrates consisting of the above-mentioned glass ceramics.The study of the cloning effectiveness for precursor stem cells of human bone marrow on the biogenic hydroxyapatite (BHA) based glass-ceramic substrates obtained at the Institute of Materials Science of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences has shown that ceramics containing residual carbon have the best adaptation properties [5]. It has also been determined that such biomaterial implanted in children with damaged bone tissue accelerates osteogenesis as a result of enhanced bio-resorption and osteoconduction [6].The high bioactivity of composite materials based on BHA and sodium-borosilicate glass is due to the particulars of the microstructure of the glass ceramic, which preserve the microstructure of the natural mineral in mammalian bones, identical to the microstructure of human bones. These minerals consist of nanograins assembled into micro-and macroagglomerates whose structure contains pores with an enormous size spectrum ranging from several tens of nanometers to hundreds of micrometers [7,8]. The complex structure of individual crystalline BHA particles and the pores inhering in them remains in BHA-glass ceramic.The aim of the present study was to prepare samples of BHA-based glass ceramic with maximum open porosity to check their use as m...