Ascorbic acid and salvianolic acid B enhance the valproic acid and 5-azacytidinemediated cardiac differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.

These findings suggest that epigenetic modifiers valproic acid and 5-azacytidine in combination with ascorbic acid and salvianolic acid B promote cardiac differentiation of MSCs. This pretreatment strategy can be exploited for designing future stem cell based therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular diseases.