Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. Although developing therapies have partially ameliorated symptoms and prolonged lifetime for patients, the loss of cardiac tissue is still a critical issue. For this reason, heart stem cells or progenitor cells serve as paramount strategy for heart repair and regeneration. Among all the stem/ progenitors cells, KIT* cells have spurred most interest and controversy. There is along debate over whether KIT+ cardiac stem cells contribute to a substantial number of cardiomyocytes in the adult heart.
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