Sca-1(+) cardiac progenitor cells and heart-making: a critical synopsis.

Mariana Valente (1, 2) , Diana Santos Nascimento (1) , Ana Cumano (2) , Perpétua Pinto-Do-Ó (1, 3)

1 Stem-Cell Microenvironments in Repair/Regeneration Team, Microenvironments for NewTherapies Group
2 Lymphopoïèse
3 ICBAS - Instituto de Ciencias Biomedicas Abel Salazar

The identification, in the adult, of cardiomyocyte turnover events and of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) has revolutionized the field of cardiovascular medicine. However, the low rate of CPCs differentiation events reported both in vitro and in vivo, even after injury, raised concerns on the biological significance of these subsets. In this Comprehensive Review, we discuss the current understanding of cardiac Lin(-)Sca-1(+) cells in light of what is also known for cellular compartments with similar phenotypes in other organs. The Lin(-)Sca-1(+) heart subset is heterogeneous and displays a mesenchymal profile, characterized by a limited ability to generate cardiomyocytes in vitro and in vivo, even after injury. There is no evidence for Sca-1 expression in embryonic cardiovascular progenitors. In other organs, Sca-1 expression is mainly observed on mesoderm-derived cells, although it is not restricted to stem/progenitor cell populations. It is urgent to determine, at a single cell level, to which extent cardiac Lin(-)Sca-1(+) cells overlap with the fibroblast compartment.

Domains: Immunology

Mariana Valente, Diana Santos Nascimento, Ana Cumano, Perpétua Pinto-Do-Ó. Sca-1(+) cardiac progenitor cells and heart-making: a critical synopsis.. Stem Cells and Development, 2014, 23 (19), pp.2263-73. ⟨10.1089/scd.2014.0197⟩. ⟨pasteur-01071565⟩