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Stem cell side show

A CSP-derived cell (green) settles into injured heart tissue.

Before scientists can harness heart stem cells to repair damage to the organ, they have to pin down the elusive cells. On page 329, Oyama et al. bolster the case for a group of cells known as side population cells, showing for the first time that they home in on injured heart muscle and differentiate into all the types of cardiac cells in vivo.

Previous research has turned up several candidates for cardiac stem cells, including the side population cells. In the bone marrow, side population cells function as stem cells. The situation in the heart wasn't clear, however. If they are grown with heart muscle cells in vitro, cardiac side population (CSP) cells can specialize into heart muscle. However, researchers didn't know what stimulates the cells to differentiate or what they're capable of in vivo.

Oyama et al. offered cultured CSP cells a variety of growth factors, but found that only two—including the hormone oxytocin—coaxed the cells to differentiate. Whether these molecules control differentiation in vivo isn't clear, the scientists say, but their discovery might help researchers devise a recipe for nurturing the cells.

To study CSP cell behavior in vivo, the researchers injected tagged cells into rats. CSP cells ended up in several organs, but mainly in the heart. More of them found their way to the organ if it was damaged, indicating that they respond to signals from injured cardiac tissue. These new arrivals specialized into heart muscle cells, but also into blood vessel and connective tissue cells. That finding demonstrates that CSP cells can spawn all cell types in the heart, the researchers note. They conclude that CSP cells are serving as stem cells in the heart.

Mitch Leslie

mitchleslie{at}comcast.net

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Related Article

Cardiac side population cells have a potential to migrate and differentiate into cardiomyocytes in vitro and in vivo

Tomomi Oyama, Toshio Nagai, Hiroshi Wada, Atsuhiko Thomas Naito, Katsuhisa Matsuura, Koji Iwanaga, Toshinao Takahashi, Motohiro Goto, Yoko Mikami, Noritaka Yasuda, Hiroshi Akazawa, Akiyoshi Uezumi, Shin'ichi Takeda, and Issei Komuro
J. Cell Biol. 2007 176: 329-341. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Full Text (PDF, 903K) PPT slides of all figures Alert me when this article is cited Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new content in the JCB Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Leslie, M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Leslie, M. Related Collections Related Article Social Bookmarking                            What's this?