Molecular pathways in myocardial development: a stem cell perspective

The heart has long been considered to adapt to increased work or pathology through the cellular growth process of hypertrophy. However, recent evidence for the existence of endogenous stem cells and regenerative capacity in the adult heart has given new impetus to the quest for cell therapies for heart failure, which remains the number one killer in Western cultures. The molecular cues driving cardiac development are now being explored in detail and will come into sharp focus as regimes for stem cell differentiation and efforts to augment endogenous regeneration are trialed. This review briefly outlines the current state of knowledge on the molecular basis of the foul modalities of myogenesis that have been identified in the developing vertebrate heart. Stem cell-mediated myogenic repair in the heart represents a fifth modality, and an exciting frontier with basic and practical implications that remain to be explored. (C) 2003 European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.