Cardiac stem cell research has a turbulent history. Studies revealing the presence of regenerative progenitors in adult rodents’ hearts formed the basis of numerous clinical trials, but several experiments have cast doubt on these cells’ ability to produce new tissue. Some scientists are now lauding the results of a report published in April in Circulation as “undeniable evidence” against the idea that resident stem cells can give rise to new cardiomyocytes.
“The concept of [many] clinical trials arose from the basic science in labs of a few individuals more than 15 years ago, and that basic science is what’s now being called into question,” says Jeffery Molkentin, a cardiovascular biologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital who penned an editorial about the latest work.
The first evidence supporting the notion of cardiac stem cells in adults emerged in the early 2000s, when researchers reported that cells derived from bone marrow or adult ...
