title: Healing a broken heart with stem cells.
abstract: We discuss here the rapid progress of stem cell therapy in myocardial infarction. In particular, we focus on the issue of transdifferentiation as a "hallmark" of the stem cell's potential to replace damaged cells of the heart. A study by Henning and colleagues in this issue of Cell Transplantation supports the alternative notion of a nontransdifferentiation-mediated protection of the heart as an equally robust mechanism underlying the therapeutic potential of stem cells.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912-3200, USA.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: Cesar V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Borlongan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000628:therapy*; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*