Assessment of the differentiation potential of Sca-1-positive cells in the heart

心血管疾病是全世界死亡的主要原因。充血性心力衰竭几乎占这些病例的一半，通常是由于心脏无法再生。直到最近，心脏一直被认为是一个不能再生的有丝分裂后器官。然而，最近的出版物一致表明，少量的心肌细胞产生于成年哺乳动物的心脏。一些研究表明，祖细胞分化为心肌细胞。其他研究提出心肌细胞来源于预先存在的心肌细胞的增殖。目前这个问题还没有解决。该项目的重点是一个假定的祖细胞群体，其特征是干细胞抗原1（Sca-1）的表达。本研究的目的是阐明Sca-1阳性细胞是否代表发育过程中和成年小鼠心脏中的心脏祖细胞群。

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Congestive heart failure represents almost half of these cases and often results from the hearts inability to regenerate. Until recently the heart has been regarded as a postmitotic organ incapable of regeneration. However, recent publications have shown consistently that a small number of cardiomyocytes are generated in the adult mammalian heart. Some studies suggest the differentiation of progenitors to cardiomyocytes. Other studies propose that cardiomyocytes are derived from the proliferation of pre-existing cardiomyocytes. At present this question remains unsolved. This project focuses on a putative progenitor cell population that is characterized by the expression of the Stem cell antigen 1 (Sca-1). The aim of the study is to elucidate whether Sca-1-positive cells represent a cardiac progenitor cell population during development and in the adult murine heart.