Cardiac stem cells for myocardial regeneration: promising but not ready for prime time

•The discovery of cardiac stem cells shines the light on heart repair.•Cardiomyocyte proliferation is an alternative approach for heart regeneration.•Conversion of somatic cells into cardiomyocytes may have important therapeutic implications.•Human stem cells can contribute to forming organs in animals.•Human-animal chimeras hold great potential for heart transplantation.

Remarkable strides have been made in the treatment of ischemic heart disease in decades. As the initial loss of cardiomyocytes associated with myocardial infarction serves as an impetus for myocardial remodeling, the ability to replace these cells with healthy counterparts would represent an effective treatment for many forms of cardiovascular disease. The discovery of cardiac stem cells (that can differentiate into multiple lineages) highlighted the possibility for development of cell-based therapeutics to achieve this ultimate goal. Recent research features cardiac stem cell maintenance, proliferation, and differentiation, as well as direct reprogramming of various somatic cells into cardiomyocytes, all within the context of the holy grail of regeneration of the injured heart. Much work remains to be done, but the future looks bright!

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