Evidence Of Mature Heart Cell Potential Found In Embryonic Stem Cells

A group of researchers from UC Davis claim to have found evidence of calcium stores in embryonic stem cell derived heart cells. Calcium stores are important for excitation-contraction coupling of heart cells. After differentiating the stem cells, the researchers used electrical current and chemicals to energize the cells and then measured the changes of intracellular calcium. They also found four of the seven known proteins that are involved in controlling calcium inside cells. The researchers are hoping that this finding will lead to using these differentiated heart cells to become a safer alternative to heart transplants. Despite these findings, there is still a long way to go before this is possible.