Chorionic villi cells

In the chorionic villi of placenta, trophoblasts and endothelial cells are present, and moreover mesenchymal cells (stromal cells) can be obtained. We generated cells with the mesenchymal phenotype from the chorionic mesoderm, and showed that: a) physiologically functioning cardiomyocytes were transdifferentiated from human placenta-derived chorionic villi cells, but these cells did not induce to osteoblasts and adipocytes ; b) the cardiomyogenic induction rate obtained using our system was relatively high compared to that obtained using the previously described method ; c) co-cultivation with fetal murine cardiomyocytes alone without transdifferentiation factors such as 5-azaC or oxytocin is sufficient for cardiomyogenesis in our system; d) Chorionic villi cells have the electrophysiological properties of 'working' cardiomyocytes. The chorionic mesoderm contained a large number of cells with a cardiomyogenic potential. Keywords: Cardiomyogenic induction To isolate chorionic villi cells, we used the explant culture method, in which the cells were outgrown from pieces of chorionic villi attached to dishes. Chorionic villi cells were harvested with 0.25% trypsin and 1 mM EDTA, and overlaid onto the cultured fetal cardiomyocytes at 7 x 103/cm2. Every 2 days, the culture medium was replaced with fresh culture medium that was supplemented with 10% FBS and 1 ug/ml Amphotericin B (GIBCO). The morphology of the beating chorionic villi cells was evaluated under a fluorescent microscope.