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CARDIAC REGENERATION

The complex biology of KIT+ cells in the heart

Nature Reviews Cardiology volume 15, pages 443–444 (2018)Cite this article

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Early studies showing that KIT+ cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) could differentiate into cardiomyocytes generated excitement regarding their potential therapeutic application. Subsequent studies called their functional relevance into question, and while claims for a contribution of KIT+ CPCs to myocardial regeneration continue, two new studies confirm the doubts about their relevance to cardiomyogenesis and provide unexpected new insights.

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Fig. 1: Identifying the heterogeneity of KIT+ cardiac cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Max Planck Society, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 1213, TP A02, B02, ECCPS), and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (ERA-Net CVD, CLARIFY) for funding research in T.B.’s laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiac Development and Remodeling, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany

    Giovanni Maroli & Thomas Braun

  2. German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner site Rhein-Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Braun

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  1. Giovanni Maroli
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  2. Thomas Braun
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Correspondence to Thomas Braun.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Maroli, G., Braun, T. The complex biology of KIT+ cells in the heart. Nat Rev Cardiol 15, 443–444 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-018-0037-5

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