STEM CELLS focuses primarily on the functional and mechanistic aspects of stem cell biology and the potential of different types of stem cells for therapeutic applications. The journal publishes key, well-controlled advances in stem cell clinical trials and mechanism-based manuscripts with definitive conclusions.
Biological properties and functional activities of adult cardiac interstitial cells continue to elude simple characterization despite decades of investigation. The present study demonstrates the influence of developmental environmental cues upon phenotypic properties of c-Kit+ adult cardiac interstitial cells (cCICs). Delivery of cCIC into early embryonic blastocysts leads to trophectoderm integration with exclusion from the inner cell mass, whereas introduction of cCIC into developing myocardium of late fetal or early postnatal hearts results in extended persistence and acquisition of phenotypic traits consistent with fibroblasts. Findings of the present study support the rationale for cCIC cell therapy in the context of congenital and pediatric cardiomyopathic conditions.