Abstract
Heart diseases, including cardiomyopathies, acute coronary syndromes, chronic heart failure, arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death, are the number one killer in western countries. The adult heart was long believed to be a post-mitotic organ, incapable of selfrenewal following an injury. We now know that this paradigm is wrong: cardiomyocytes are capable of division. Furthermore, resident stem cells or precursor cells contribute to the replacement of adult cardiomyocytes after cardiac injury. Cardiac stem cells or progenitor cells have been identified and isolated by several independent research groups in adult or postnatal hearts of humans and other mammalian species. Cardiac stem cell isolation is based on the surface expression of stem cell markers traditionally associated with blood- or bone marrow-derived stem cells, or even pluripotent embryonic stem cells. These various cardiac stem cell populations have each fulfilled one or more criteria of a stem or progenitor cell, including multilineage potential, clonogenicity, and capacity for self-renewal. In this chapter, we review the features and regenerative potential of each proposed cardiac stem cell population. We analyze the functional capacity of c-Kit cells compared to cardiospheres. Finally, we summarize the various strategies currently proposed to promote myocardial regeneration, with a focus on myocardial tissue engineering.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | New Developments in Myocardial Ischemia Research |
| Publisher | Nova Science Publishers Inc |
| Pages | 35-57 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781634828550 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781634828024 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2015 |
Keywords
- Cardiac stem cells
- Myocardial regeneration
