Muscle Cells That May Hold a Key to Repairing Young Hearts

sea-maid submitted, created time 1 hour 20 minutes (www.washingtonpost.com)

No, this isn't a reminder that today -- the 12th day of Christmas -- is the traditional day to pack away the tree ornaments. These brilliant orbs are actually a layer of fluorescently stained muscle cells designed to encourage the growth of stem cells that may one day replace pacemakers in children and keep young hearts beating on time, according to Doug Cowan, an assistant professor of anesthesia at Children's Hospital Boston

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: muscle-derived stem cells

A role for cell sex in stem cell–mediated skeletal muscle regeneration: female cells have higher muscle regeneration efficiency

amanda submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.jcb.org)

"We have shown that muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) transplanted into dystrophic (mdx) mice efficiently regenerate skeletal muscle. However, MDSC populations exhibit heterogeneity in marker profiles and variability in regeneration abilities. "

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: muscle-derived stem cells dystrophic skeletal muscle cell sex skeletal muscle