Human cardiac stem cells

The identification of cardiac progenitor cells in mammals raises the possibility that the human heart contains a population of stem cells capable of generating cardiomyocytes and coronary vessels. The characterization of human cardiac stem cells (hCSCs) would have important clinical implications for the management of the failing heart. We have established the conditions for the isolation and expansion of c-kit-positive hCSCs from small samples of myocardium. Additionally, we have tested whether these cells have the ability to form functionally competent human myocardium after infarction in immunocompromised animals. Here, we report the identification in vitro of a class of human c-kit-positive cardiac cells…