[Plasticity of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells differentiating into cardiomyocytes and the potential of cardiac therapeutics].

Current treatments for ischemic cardiomyopathy aim at minimizing the deteriorated consequences of damaged myocardium. Recent stem cell researches have provided major impetus for the possibility of treating heart failure by generating new myocardium and vascular structures. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) , also referred to as marrow stromal cells, differentiate readily into chondrocytes, adipocytes, and osteocytes. Recent provocative data suggest that they can also express phenotypic characteristics of endothelial, neural, smooth muscle, skeletal myoblasts, and cardiac myocytes. The multilineage potential, no immune reaction if self-transplantation, and the relative easiness of expansion in culture make MSCs a promising source of cells for medical therapies. Recent researches demonstrate that implantation of intramyocardial MSCs can prevent deteriorated remodeling and improve cardiac function, although the underlying mechanisms need to be further clarified. This review summarized recent studies in the recognition of MSCs, particularly the MSC plasticity into cardiomyocytes, factors and signal pathways that mediate MSC differentiation, and animal studies as well as clinic trials of the implantation of MSCs in postinfarct myocardium.