Open AccessAdult stem cells and their cardiac potential
Author(s) -
Eisenberg Leonard M.,
Eisenberg Carol A.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the anatomical record part a: discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1552-4892
pISSN - 1552-4884
DOI - 10.1002/ar.a.10137
Subject(s) - stem cell , myocyte , context (archaeology) , biology , phenotype , adult stem cell , bone marrow , cardiac muscle , neuroscience , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , immunology , medicine , anatomy , endothelial stem cell , in vitro , genetics , gene , paleontology
Adult cardiac muscle is unable to repair itself following severe disease or injury. Because of this fundamental property of the myocardium, it was long believed that the adult myocardium is a postmitotic tissue. Yet, recent studies have indicated that new cardiac myocytes are generated throughout the life span of an adult and that extracardiac cells can contribute to the renewal of individual cells within the myocardium. In addition, investigations of the phenotypic capacity of adult stem cells have suggested that their potential is not solely restricted to the differentiated cell phenotypes of the source tissue. These observations have great implications for cardiac biology, as stem cells obtained from the bone marrow and other readily accessible adult tissues may serve as a source of replacement cardiac myocytes. In this review, we describe the evidence for these new findings and discuss their implications in context of the continuing controversy over stem cell plasticity. Anat Rec Part A 276A:103–112, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.