Mobilization of bone marrow stem cells with StemEnhance improves muscle regeneration in cardiotoxin-induced muscle injury.

Bone marrow-derived stem cells have the ability to migrate to sites of tissue damage and participate in tissue regeneration. The number of circulating stem cells has been shown to be a key parameter in this process. Therefore, stimulating the mobilization of bone marrow stem cells may accelerate tissue regeneration in various animal models of injury. In this study we investigated the effect of the bone marrow stem cells mobilizer StemEnhance (SE), a water-soluble extract of the cyanophyta Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA), on hematopoietic recovery after myeloablation as well as recovery from cardiotoxin-induced injury of the anterior tibialis muscle in mice. Control and SE-treated female mice were irradiated, and then transplanted with GFP(+) bone marrow stem cells and allowed to recover. Immediately after transplant, animals were gavaged daily with 300 mg/kg of SE in PBS or a PBS control. After hematopoietic recovery (23 days), mice were injected with cardiotoxin in the anterior tibialis muscle. Five weeks later, the anterior tibialis muscles were analyzed for incorporation of GFP(+) bone marrow-derived cells using fluorescence imaging. SE significantly enhanced recovery from cardiotoxin-injury. However, StemEnhance did not affect the growth of the animal and did not affect hematopoietic recovery after myeloablation, when compared to control. This study suggests that inducing mobilization of stem cells from the bone marrow is a strategy for muscle regeneration.