Gao, YangConnell, Jennifer PetscheWadhwa, LalitaRuano, RodrigoJacot, Jeffrey G.2014-11-212014-11-212014Gao, Yang, Connell, Jennifer Petsche, Wadhwa, Lalita, et al.. "Amniotic Fluid-Derived Stem Cells Demonstrated Cardiogenic Potential in Indirect Co-culture with Human Cardiac Cells." <i>Annals of Biomedical Engineering,</i> 42, no. 12 (2014) Springer: 2490-2500. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10439-014-1114-5.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/78490Amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (AFSC) have been shown to be broadly multipotent and non-tumorogenic. Previous studies of direct mixing of AFSC and neonatal rat ventricle myocytes indicated evidence of AFSC cardiogenesis. In this study, we examined human AFSC cardiogenic potential in indirect co-culture with human cardiac cells in conditions that eliminated the possibility of cell fusion. Human AFSC in contact with human cardiac cells showed expression of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in immunohistochemistry, and no evidence of cell fusion were found through fluorescent in situ hybridization. When indirectly co-cultured with cardiac cells, human AFSC in contact with cardiac cells across a thin porous membrane showed a statistically significant increase in cTnT expression compared to non-contact conditions but lacked upregulation of calcium modulating proteins and did not have functional or morphological characteristics of mature cardiomyocytes. This suggests that contact is a necessary but not sufficient condition for AFSC cardiac differentiation in co-culture with cardiac cells.engThis is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Springer.Journal articlecardiomyocytescardiac progenitor cellsright ventricular out flow tractpediatric tissue engineeringcongenital heart defectshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10439-014-1114-5