A new heart: somatic stem cells and myocardial regeneration.

End-stage heart failure is a global scourge. Current therapies merely delay its inexorable progression. Heart transplantation is resource-intensive and limited by organ availability.

Analysis of Sciellin (SCEL) as a candidate gene in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a candidate gene, Sciellin (SCEL), mapping to the chromosome 13q21-q31 is mutated in esophageal cancer.

Materials And Methods: The coding region and intron-exon junctions of SCEL were sequenced in 13 esophageal squamous cell cancers and matching normal esophageal samples to detect mutations.

Results: Three single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected in SCEL of which two were silent mutations (L640L and H654H) and one missense mutation (R366K).