Subsets of telocytes: the progenitor cells in the human endocardial niche.

Unlabelled: Telocytes (TCs) are cells defined by their long and moniliform processes termed telopodes. They were previously identified in the endocardium and express neural markers, such as nestin and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). Previous studies found a positive expression of neuro-filaments in endocardial endothelial cells, and a positive expression of nestin in cardiac side population (CSP) progenitor cells, which allowed us to hypothesize that TCs in the endocardial stem niche could be in fact progenitors that express nestin.