Cardiac progenitor cells

Adult cardiomyocytes have a limited potential to divide. After myocardial infarction, injured cardiomyocytes are replaced by fibrotic tissue promoting the development of heart failure. Stem cells may be an important and powerful cellular source. Despite stem cells therapy tissue-specific progenitor cells contribute to local cellular regeneration and maintain organ function. .Cardiac progenitor cells are rare, and specialized stem cells located in the newborn heart of rats, mice and humans. These cells are capable of differentiation into fully mature heart tissue however a thorough understanding of how these cells function, how they might be expanded in culture and their true potential as a source for cell transplantation remains to be elucidated.