Figure 1.

Functional properties of cardiac stem cells. Cardiac stem cells are not differentiated cells and can divide without limitation. During cellular division, these cells can divide through symmetrical division to increase their numbers. Alternatively, these stem cells can undergo asymmetrical cellular division to produce both a daughter stem cell and a progenitor cell, the latter of which can differentiates along the three major cardiac lineages: cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells or smooth muscle cells.