Wnt/β-Catenin Stimulation and Laminins Support Cardiovascular Cell Progenitor Expansion from Human Fetal Cardiac Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

The intrinsic regenerative capacity of human fetal cardiac mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has not been fully characterized. Here we demonstrate that we can expand cells with characteristics of cardiovascular progenitor cells from the MSC population of human fetal hearts. Cells cultured on cardiac muscle laminin (LN)-based substrata in combination with stimulation of the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway showed increased gene expression of ISL1,...