c-kit+ Cardiac Stem Cells: Spontaneous Creation or a Perplexing Reality.

Khan, Mohsin; Koch, Walter J · Circ Res · 2016

other · Level V

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Abstract

One of the lingering controversies in the field of cardiac regenerative medicine has been around the origin of c-kit+ cardiac stem cells in the heart and their contribution towards cardiac homeostasis. A recent study reports that a subpopulation of c-kit+ cardiac progenitors emerges from the cardiac neural crest (CNC) with the capacity to give rise to cardiomyocytes. Contribution of CNC derived c-kit+ cells to cardiac myocyte development is regulated by bone morphogenetic protein (BMP). However, ex vivo manipulation of CNC<sup>c-</sup><i><sup>kit</sup></i> cells reveals efficient transformation to early cardiac progenitors.

Medical subject headings