Abstract 11820: NG2+ Cells Protect Against Cardiac Remodeling and Failure After Myocardial Infarction in Mice

Introduction: Myocardial infarction kills cells, leading to cardiac remodeling (CR) and heart failure. Pericytes are microvascular mural cells that have been recently shown to have plasticity and cardiac regenerative potential, and also to interfere with CR, yet different niches present in cardiac tissue together with many cell markers that characterize resident pericytes have raised interrogate regarding their cell-specific differentiation capabilities. NG2 is a cell trans-membrane proteoglycan receptor and the most robust marker for pericytes. NG2 is normally present in embryonic cardiac myocytes, but in the adult heart its expression is only limited to pericytes and pericyte-like cells. Hypothesis: NG2+ cells are protective after myocardial infarction in the adult heart. Methods: Myocardial infarction (MI) was performed by coronary artery ligation in double transgenic mice (NG2cre-Z/EG) that express NG2-GFP under cre-lox technology, in mice lacking NG2 (NG2 -/-), and in wilt type littermate controls (W...