Adiponectinemia controls pro-angiogenic cell therapy

Angiogenic cell therapy with the transplantation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) or bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) receives considerable attention as an approach to revascularize ischemic tissues. Adiponectin is a circulating hormone produced by the apM1 gene in adipocytes. Adiponectin modulates lipid metabolism and obesity, and it was recently found to promote physiological angiogenesis in response to ischemia. Patients with multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors or myocardial infarction may benefit from progenitor cell therapy, but they display depressed adiponectinemia. We hypothesized that adiponectin stimulation of transplanted cells is critical for their pro-angiogenic function. We aimed to establish whether adiponectinemia in the cell donor or in the cell recipient determines the success of pro-angiogenic cell therapy. In vitro, we found that conditioned media derived from wild-type adipocytes (adipo-CM) or purified adiponectin strongly enhanced BM-MNC survival and proliferation and stimulated EPC differentiation, whereas adipo-CM from apM1-/- adipocytes was one-half less effective. On the other hand, wild-type and apM1-/- BM-MNC displayed similar resistance to apoptosis and proliferation rates. In vivo, wild-type, and apM1-/- BM-MNC induced similar angiogenic reactions in wild-type ischemic hindlimbs. In contrast, wild-type BM-MNC had much diminished effects in apM1-/- ischemic hindlimbs. We concluded that adiponectin enhances BM-MNC survival and proliferation, and adiponectinemia in the cell therapy recipient is essential for the pro-angiogenic benefits of cell therapy. These observations imply that progenitor cell transplantation might only induce angiogenesis in patients with high adiponectinemia.