title: Regenerative capacity of transplanted cardiac muscle in the rat.
abstract: The authors analyzed the regenerative ability of cardiac muscle in the rat. Normal cardiac muscle was minced into mm3 fragments and homotransplanted into a triceps surae complex cavity of a nonsibling rat. Subsequent histological examination of the cardiac regenerate revealed the presence of myofibers. These myofibers typically exhibited centrally located nuclei, a characteristic of normal cardiac muscle. However, the absence of intercalated discs and autonomous contractility prevented indentification of these fibers as cardiac.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012038:Regeneration