Mesoangioblast

Mesoangioblasts were initially isolated in 1997 by researchers at San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy.

Additionally, it was theorized that stem cells could also be found in the embryonic dorsal aorta, which furthered interest in the subject matter.

Quail donor cells colonized the vascular walls of chick wings, being especially prominent in skeletal muscle.

[4] From these findings, researchers concluded that the donor cells are involved with the developing mesoderm and vasculature of host tissues.

This theory describes that mesoangioblasts act as the precursors to certain cells in this region, as there is a possibility of a hematopoiesis-supporting element that contains mesodermal tissue progenitors.

Due to their limited fates, they would not be considered pluripotent stem cells, but they still provide a significant number of differentiation paths that can be used for a wide variety of applications.

[7] They are also characterized by their ability to migrate and integrate into damaged tissues and their capabilities of self-renewal, which allows them to maintain their stem cell properties over multiple passages.

Due to their ability to differentiate into skeletal muscle cells, mesoangioblasts were tested as forms of stem cell therapy to regenerate skeletal muscle in animal models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD).

[6] Experiments in alpha-sarcoglycan (α-SG) deficient dystrophic mice have shown that mesoangioblast transplantation can restore muscle function in a LGMD model.

Cells from cloned embryonic dorsal aortas were delivered intra-arterially, where they migrated and engrafted to the dystrophic muscles, due to their expression of the receptor for advanced glycation end products.

[13] This solution allows for regeneration of cardiomyocytes that can be transplanted into the heart and replace damaged cells and restore function.