Harnessing endogenous intra- and extra-cardiac stem cells for cardiac regeneration – hope or hype?

Recent findings revealed endogenous cardiomyocyte replenishment upon myocardial injuries in mice and continuous cardiomyocyte renewal throughout the human life. These important findings not only confirmed the cardiac regenerative potentials of the adult myocardium, but also hinted a novel strategy for cardiac repair by renewing cardiomyocytes. In this review, we discuss target cardiogenic stem cell populations and approaches to unleash their cardiac regeneration potentials.

Section editor:Randall Moon – University of Washington, Pharmacology/HHMI, Seattle, WA, USA