Higher expression of pluripotency, cardiac lineage, and antiaging markers with longer telomeres in SJSCs. Compared with aged BMSCs, aged SJSCs showed higher expression of pluripotency markers such as octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct-4), Nanog, sex-determining region Y box 2 (Sox-2), Kruppel-like factor 4 (Klf-4), and Rex-1 (A), cardiogenic differentiation markers such as Gata-4 and myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2C (Mef2c) (B), and antiaging markers such as sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (Tert) (C), as examined by RT-PCR. *P < 0.01 vs. BMSCs. D: aged SJSCs showed less senescence-associated β-galactosidase (β-gal) expression compared with aged BMSCs. E: confocal microscopy showed that aged SJSCs had a higher density of telomeres compared with aged BMSCs. F: Quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis demonstrated that SJSCs maintain longer telomeres compared with BMSCs. Telomere shortening was delayed in aged SJSCs compared with aged BMSCs. *P < 0.05; #P < 0.001.