The use and abuse of Cre/Lox recombination to identify adult cardiomyocyte renewal rate and origin

Publication date: Available online 24 June 2017 Source:Pharmacological Research Author(s): Iolanda Aquila, Fabiola Marino, Eleonora Cianflone, Pina Marotta, Michele Torella, Vincenzo Mollace, Ciro Indolfi, Bernardo Nadal-Ginard, Daniele Torella The adult mammalian heart, including the human, is unable to regenerate segmental losses after myocardial infarction. This evidence has been widely and repeatedly used up-to-today to suggest that the myocardium, contrary to most adult tissues, lacks an endogenous stem cell population or more specifically a bona-fide cardiomyocyte-generating progenitor cell of biological significance. In the last 15 years, however, the field has slowly evolved from the dogma that no new cardiomyocytes were produced from shortly after birth to the present consensus that new cardiomyocytes are formed throughout lifespan. This endogenous regenerative potential increases after various forms of injury. Nevertheless, the degree/significance and more importantly the origin of adult new cardiomyocytes remains strongly disputed. Evidence from independent laboratories has shown that the adult myocardium harbours bona-fide tissue-specific cardiac stem cells (CSCs). Their transplantation and in situ activation have demonstrated the CSCs regenerative potential and have been used to develop regeneration protocols which in pre-clinical tests have shown to be effective in the prevention and treatment heart failure. Recent reports purportedly tracking the c-k...
Source: Pharmacological Research - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research