In vitro cardiomyocyte differentiation of umbilical cord blood cells: crucial role for c-kit+ cells

We show that UCB contains progenitors endowed with differentiation potential into cardiomyocytes: these cells reside in the c-kit+ fraction and require the presence of abundant accessory cells to accomplish the differentiation. These preliminary observations provide the basis for consider the storage of autologous UCB in patients with prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart diseases potentially amenable by myocardial regenerative approaches.