Postnatal isl1+cardioblasts enter fully differentiated cardiomyocyte lineages

The purification, renewal and differentiation of native cardiac progenitors would form a mechanistic underpinning for unravelling steps for cardiac cell lineage formation, and their links to forms of congenital and adult cardiac diseases(1 - 3). Until now there has been little evidence for native cardiac precursor cells in the postnatal heart(4). Herein, we report the identification of isl1(+) cardiac progenitors in postnatal rat, mouse and human myocardium. A cardiac mesenchymal feeder layer allows renewal of the isolated progenitor cells with maintenance of their capability to adopt a fully differentiated cardiomyocyte phenotype. Tamoxifen- inducible Cre/ lox technology enables selective marking of this progenitor cell population including its progeny, at a defined time, and purification to relative homogeneity. Coculture studies with neonatal myocytes indicate that isl1(+) cells represent authentic, endogenous cardiac progenitors ( cardioblasts) that display highly efficient conversion to a mature cardiac phenotype with stable expression of myocytic markers ( 25%) in the absence of cell fusion, intact Ca2+- cycling, and the generation of action potentials. The discovery of native cardioblasts represents a genetically based system to identify steps in cardiac cell lineage formation and maturation in development and disease.