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Guest Editors: Leonard M. Eisenberg, Carol A. Eisenberg

To understand both the current state and future potential of stem cell biology and medicine, the articles in this special issue address a number of important questions. What are the characteristics of stem cells? What are the developmental origins of the stem cells that give rise to the various cell phenotypes that comprise the fully developed heart? Do the initial aggregate of nondifferentiated cells that arises following fertilization - the embryonic stem (ES) cells - possess unique capabilities as a source of replacement cardiovascular tissue? How do stem cells that are present in the adult differ from those within the developing embryo? How broad is the potential of tissue-derived stem cells to generate various types of differentiated tissue? What are the regulatory mechanisms by which cardiovascular stem cells are induced to undergo cell differentiation, and how can this information be applied to manipulating stem cells for medical therapies? What is the long-term prognosis for using stem cells to combat cardiovascular disease? Although stem cell biology has not progressed to the point where any of these questions can be answered definitively, we believe that the articles within this issue will provide both a summation of our current understanding of cardiovascular stem cells and a road map to future research directions in this field.

Leonard M. Eisenberg, Carol A. Eisenberg

These articles are provided free online by Wiley-Liss, Inc., the publishers of The Anatomical Record as a service to the scientific community.

Page updated November 4, 2004