Prion protein- and cardiac troponin T-marked interstitial cells from the adult myocardium spontaneously develop into beating cardiomyocytes.

ABSTRACT: Atypically-shaped cardiomyocytes (ACMs) constitute a novel subpopulation of beating heart cells found in the cultures of cardiac myocyte-removed crude fraction cells obtained from adult mouse cardiac ventricles. Although ~500 beating ACMs are observed under microscope in the cell cultures obtained from the hearts of either male or female mice, the origin of these cells in cardiac tissue has yet to be elucidated due to the lack of exclusive markers. In the present study, we demonstrate the efficacy of cellular prion protein (PrP) as a surface marker of ACMs. Cells expressing PrP at the plasma membrane in the culture of the crude fraction cells were found to develop into beating ACMs by themselves or fuse with each other to become larger multinuclear beating ACMs. Combining PrP with a cardia

SUBMITTER: Omatsu-Kanbe M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4252891 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature