This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kereiakes, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kereiakes, D. J. Related Collections Congestive Heart failure - basic studies Myogenesis

(Circulation. 2003;107:939.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.

Mini-Review: Expert Opinions

Stem Cells

The Chameleon Fountain of Youth

Dean J. Kereiakes, MD

From the Carl and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education, and the Ohio Heart Health Center, Cincinnati.

Correspondence to Dean J. Kereiakes, MD, FACC, Carl and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education, 2123 Auburn Ave, Suite 424, Cincinnati, OH 45219. E-mail lindner@fuse.net

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Senescence requires rejuvenation of organs critical to survival. To date, efforts at "rejuvenation" of the heart have largely used replacement (orthotopic transplantation) and, more recently, mechanical biventricular assist devices. These strategies have been hampered by the limited availability of donor organs and the high levels of immunosuppression required to prevent transplanted organ rejection and consequent infectious/neoplastic complications, as well as the physical, rheologic, and thrombotic issues attendant mechanical devices. Most patients suffering from advanced myocardial dysfunction with clinical congestive heart failure will die waiting for heart "organ replacement." This reality has prompted recent advances in both electrical resynchronization and adjunctive pharmacotherapy that target myocardial remodeling and the inflammatory pathogenesis of myocardial dysfunction. The conceptual revelation and experimental observations that primitive, pluripotential stem cells may differentiate into functional myocardial or vascular tissue has ignited great interest. Indeed, if stem cell–myocardial regeneration becomes a clinical reality, the potential widespread applicability and impact of this therapy on the modern industrialized world’s leading healthcare problem (congestive heart failure) is profound. Although embryonic stem cells have an exceptional capacity for proliferation and differentiation, potential immunogenicity, arrhythmogenicity, and particularly ethical considerations limit their current use. As eloquently outlined by Perin et al and Strauer and Kornowski in the current issue of Circulation,^1,2 adult stem cells capable of myocardial regeneration may be derived from bone marrow (endothelial precursor cells, stromal, mesenchymal, and hematopoietic stem cells), skeletal muscle (myofibroblasts), or even adipose tissue.

Bone marrow-derived stem cells appear to have the capacity to home, graft, differentiate, and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W. Wojakowski, M. Tendera, A. Michalowska, M. Majka, M. Kucia, K. Maslankiewicz, R. Wyderka, A. Ochala, and M. Z. Ratajczak Mobilization of CD34/CXCR4+, CD34/CD117+, c-met+ Stem Cells, and Mononuclear Cells Expressing Early Cardiac, Muscle, and Endothelial Markers Into Peripheral Blood in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction Circulation, November 16, 2004; 110(20): 3213 - 3220. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]