Insights into the Characteristics of Mammalian Cardiomyocyte Terminal Differentiation Shown Through the Study of Mice with a Dysfunctional c-Kit

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Nawazish Ali Naqvi, Emory University; Ming Li, Emory University; Eiji Yahiro, Emory University; Robert M. Graham, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute; Ahsan Husain, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2009-07
• Publisher: Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009
• Final Published Version (URL): http://www.springerlink.com/content/w7260n640g418931/
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Pediatric Cardiology
• ISSN: 0172-0643
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 5
• Start Page: 651
• End Page: 658
• Keywords: c-Kit; Terminal differentiation; Cardiomyocytes
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Biophysics, Medical

Abstract

Mammalian cardiomyocytes withdraw from the cell cycle soon after birth. This process is called terminal differentiation. The c-kit, a receptor tyrosine kinase, is expressed on cardiomyocytes immediately after birth but for only a few days. In mice with genetic c-kit dysfunction, adult cardiomyocytes are phenotypically indistinguishable from those of wild type mice, except that they are capable of proliferation in vivo after acute pressure overload. This review explores the idea that postnatal cardiomyocyte differentiation and cell cycle withdrawal are distinct processes and that terminal differentiation may not simply be due to altered expression of genes that regulate the cell cycle but could involve c-kit induced epigenetic change.