Tumorigenesis of nuclear transfer-derived embryonic stem cells is reduced through differentiation and enrichment following transplantation in the infarcted rat heart.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the tumorigenic potential of nuclear transfer-derived (nt) mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) transplanted into infarcted rat hearts. The nt‑mESCs were cultured using a bioreactor system to develop embryoid bodies, which were induced with 1% ascorbic acid to differentiate into cardiomyocytes. The nt‑mESC‑derived cardiomyocytes (nt‑mESCs‑CMs) were enriched using Percoll density gradient separation to generate nt‑mESCs‑percoll‑enriched (PE)‑CMs. Ischemia was induced by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery in female Sprague‑Dawley rats. Immunosuppressed rats (daily intraperitoneal injections of cyclosporine A and methylprednisolone) were randomly assigned to receive an injection containing 5x106 mESCs, nt‑mESCs, nt‑mESC‑CMs or nt‑mESC‑PE‑CMs. Analysis performed 8 weeks following transplantation revealed teratoma formation in 80, 86.67 and 33.33% of the rats administered with the mESCs, nt‑mESCs and nt‑mESC‑CMs, respectively, indicating no significant difference between the mESCs and nt‑mESCs; but significance (P<0.05) between the nt‑mESC‑CMs and nt‑mESCs. The mean tumor volumes were 82.72±6.52, 83.17±3.58 and 50.40±5.98 mm3, respectively (P>0.05 mESCs, vs. nt‑mESCs; P<0.05 nt‑mESC‑CMs, vs. nt‑mESCs). By contrast, no teratoma formation was detected in the rats, which received nt‑mESC‑PE‑CMs. Octamer‑binding transcription factor‑4, a specific marker of undifferentiated mESCs, was detected using polymerase chain reaction in the rats, which received nt‑mESCs and nt‑mESC‑CMs, but not in rats administered with nt‑mESC‑PE‑CMs. In conclusion, nt‑mESCs exhibited the same pluripotency as mESCs, and teratoma formation following nt‑mESC transplantation was reduced by cell differentiation and enrichment.