Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) have the capacity for self-renewal and differentiation into a variety of cell types. They represent an attractive source of cells for gene and cell therapy. The purpose of this study is to direct the specific expression of the DsRed reporter gene in Sca-1+ BMMSCs differentiated into a cardiomyogenic lineage. We constructed the prMLC-2v-DsRed vector expressing DsRed under the control of the 309 tp fragment of the rat MLC-2v 5'-flanking region. The specific expression of the DsRed reporter gene under the transcriptional control of the 309 bp fragment of the rat MLC-2v promoter was tested in 5-azacytidine healed-Sca-1+ BMMSCs over 2 weeks after the prMLC-2v-DsRed transfection. The prMLC-2v-DsRed was specifically expressed in the Sca-1+ BMMSCs with cardiomyogenic lineage differentiation and it demonstrates that the 309 bp sequences of the rat MLC-2v 5'-flanking region is sufficient to confer cardiac specific expression on a DsRed reporter gene. The cardiac-specific promoter-driven reporter vector provides an important tool for the study of stem cell differentiation and cell replacement therapy in ischemic cardiomyopathy.

ABSTRACT   INTRODUCTION   MATERIALS AND METHODS    Plasmid Construction    Sca-1 Expression in BMMSCs    Cardiac Differentiation of Sca-1+ BMMSCs   RESULTS    Construction of the Rat MLC Promoter-Driven DsRed Vector    Specificity of the DsRed Expression in Sca-1+ BMMSC Carliomyocytes   DISCUSSION   REFERENCES

• Seung-Cheol Choi(Department of Cardiology, College of Medicine, Korea University)
• Do-Sun Lim(Department of Cardiology, College of Medicine, Korea University) Corresponding author