Cardiac c-kit(+) progenitor cells are important for maintaining cardiac homeostasis and can potentially contribute to myocardial repair. However, cellular physiology of human cardiac c-kit(+) progenitor cells is not well understood. The present study investigates the functional store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) channels and the potential role in regulating cell cycling and migration using conf...

Cell-matrix adhesion strongly influences developmental signaling. Resulting impacts on cell migration and tissue morphogenesis are well characterized. However, the in vivo impact of adhesion on fate induction remains ambiguous. Here, we employ the invertebrate chordate Ciona intestinalis to delineate an essential in vivo role for matrix adhesion in heart progenitor induction. In Ciona pre-cardi...

Studies from our lab demonstrated that scar formation and healing was associated with the appearance of nestin (+) cardiac myocyte-like cells predominantly at the peri-infarct region. The focus of the present study was to identify the underlying mechanism(s) (e.g. hypoxia, neurohormones) implicated in their recruitment and their cellular origin. The presence of these cells was detected as early...

objective: embryonic cerebrospinal fluid (e-csf) has an important role in development of embryonic and adult brain. proteomic analysis suggests that this fluid has many morphogenes and cytokines that alter in time and space throughout embryonic life. the aim of this study was to evaluate the developmental effect of embryonic csf on proliferation and differentiation of neuroprogenitor cells in d...

Rationale: Although the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling axis plays important roles in heart development, the molecular mechanism by which the FGF regulates cardiogenesis is not fully understood. Objective: To investigate the mechanism by which FGF signaling regulates cardiac progenitor cell differentiation. Methods and Results: Using mice with tissue-specific ablation of FGF receptors ...

The mammalian heart has little capacity to regenerate, and following injury the myocardium is replaced by non-contractile scar tissue. Consequently, increased wall stress and workload on the remaining myocardium leads to chamber dilation, dysfunction, and heart failure. Cell-based therapy with an autologous, epigenetically reprogrammed, and cardiac-committed progenitor cell source could potenti...

RATIONALE Although the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling axis plays important roles in heart development, the molecular mechanism by which the FGF regulates cardiogenesis is not fully understood. OBJECTIVE To investigate the mechanism by which FGF signaling regulates cardiac progenitor cell differentiation. METHODS AND RESULTS Using mice with tissue-specific ablation of FGF receptors...

Rationale: Although the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling axis plays important roles in heart development, the molecular mechanism by which the FGF regulates cardiogenesis is not fully understood. Objective: To investigate the mechanism by which FGF signaling regulates cardiac progenitor cell differentiation. Methods and Results: Using mice with tissue-specific ablation of FGF receptors ...