Stem Cell Hope For Heart Attack, Muscular Dystrophy Victims

**Scientists said on September 4 that they have discovered a unique population of adult stem cells derived from human muscle that could be used to treat muscle injuries and diseases such as heart attack and muscular dystrophy.** In a study using **human muscle** tissue, scientists in Children’s Stem Cell Research Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have isolated and characterized stem cells known as myoendothelial cells taken from **blood vessels** that are easily isolated using cell-sorting techniques, proliferate rapidly and can be differentiated in the laboratory into muscle, bone and cartilage **cells**. These characteristics may make them ideally suited as a potential **therapy** for muscle injuries and diseases, according to lead scientists Johnny Huard, Ph.D., and Bruno Pйault, Ph.D. Results of the study are published in the September issue of the journal **Nature Biotechnology**. For more information "StemCellResearch":[ http://www.stemcellresearchnews.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=837&z=9]

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