The study, which was done on mice, shows that stem cells play a limited, but significant role in repairing damaged hearts. However, it remains unclear whether it is heart cells that are doing the repair, or cells from elsewhere in the body.
Richard Lee of the Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues genetically engineered mice so their heart muscle cells could be stained with a fluorescent protein.
Around 80 per cent of the heart muscle cells in young mice picked up the stain. As the mice aged, this level remained the same, which the researchers say demonstrates that heart muscle cells are not normally replaced in life.
However, when they induced heart attacks in the mice, the number of stained cells dropped to 70 per cent, suggesting that new muscle cells are formed in response to injury.
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This article implies that hearts have a limited ability to regenerate themselves. More must be found out.
Tags: CHD, Stem Cells, Heart Regeneration, Richard Lee
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