by Playfuls Staff |
7th December 2006
U.S. scientists have identified master cardiac stem cells that apparently can develop into the three types of heart cells that [more] make up the mammalian heart.
The researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital's Cardiovascular Research Center report identifying the progenitor cells in mice, cloning single cells from embryonic stem cells, and showing the cloned cells can differentiate into cardiac muscle, smooth muscle or endothelial cells.
"These cells offer new prospects for drug discovery and genetically based models of human disease," said Dr. Kenneth Chien, director of the center and senior author of the study. "They also give us a new paradigm for cardiac development, in which a single multi-potent cell can diversify into both muscle and endothelial lineages. They additionally suggest a novel strategy for the regeneration of cardiac muscle, coronary arterial and pacemaker cells."
The research appears in the Dec. 15 issue of the journal Cell.
© 2006 UPI
