The Adult Heart Lacks Stem Cells Capable of Regenerating Damaged Muscle

While the young mice were able to regenerate functional myocytes, infarction of adult mice resulted in only a modest induction of c-kit+ cells within the infarct, which did not undergo myogenic differentiation, but adopted a vascular role within the infarction, indicating a lack of authentic CPCs.

“While the existence of these cells in adults is controversial, if one did have fully capable stem cells in adults, why are there no new heart cells after an infarct? Whether this is due to a lack of stem cells or to something special about the infarct that inhibits stem cells from forming new heart cells is the question we addressed, taking advantage of the fact that the newborn mouse has these cells,” said senior author Dr. Michael Kotlikoff, professor of veterinary medicine at Cornell University. “The stem cells found in the adult heart have lost the ability to become heart cells, and are only capable of forming new vessels.”

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Cornell University
University of Bonn