New cardiac progenitor cells found in the hearts of neonate humans,
rats, and mice provide evidence of the heart’s regenerative potential.
The discovery was reported in the February 10 issue of Nature by a multi-institution group of US and German researchers (Laugwitz
et al. Nature. 2005;433:647-653). According to the
report, the cells are precursors of cardiac muscle cells that can be multiplied
into millions of cells in vitro. These cells also appear to form fully differentiated
functioning cardiac muscle cells in the presence of other heart cells.