摘　要：胚胎干细胞(embryonic stem cells， ESCs)具有自我更新、无限增殖和多向分化的特性，包括分化成心脏组织的多种类型细胞。经体细胞重编程产生的诱导多能干细胞(induced pluripotent stem cells， iPS)也被证明有类似胚胎干细胞的特性。但这些多能干细胞向心肌细胞自发分化的效率非常低，因此，如何有效地诱导这些多能干细胞向心肌细胞的定向分化对深入认识心肌发生发育的关键调控机制和实现其在药物发现和再生医学，如心肌梗塞、心力衰竭的细胞治疗以及心肌组织工程中的应用均具有非常重要的意义。该文重点综述了近年来胚胎干细胞及诱导多能干细胞向心肌细胞分化和调控的研究进展，并探讨了这一研究领域亟待解决的关键问题和这些多能干细胞的应用前景。

关键词：干细胞; 胚胎干细胞; 诱导多能干细胞; 心肌细胞; 体外分化

中图分类号：Q813　　文献标识码：A

 

 

 

Abstract: Pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are capable of prolonged symmetrical self-renewal and possess the unique property to differentiate into derivatives of all three primary germ layers， including specialized cardiomyocytes with all cell types of the heart， such as atrial-like， ventricular-like， sinus nodal-like， and Purkinje-like cells. Recently generated ESC-like pluripotent cells by reprogramming somatic cells， named induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)， open a new gate for cell transplantation-based regenerative medicine. Spontaneous differentiation of ESCs and iPSCs into cardiomyocytes is however limited. To elucidate the regulatory mechanisms and effectively differentiate these pluripotent cells into specific cardiomyocytes are crucial to obtain fundamental knowledge in cardiogenesis， screen drugs and promote the usage of these cells in replacement therapy. This review summarizes the current state of differentiation of cardiomyocytes from mouse and human ESCs and their regulatory factors. The in vitro differentiation potential of iPSCs into cardiomyocytes is also described. Finally， the steps required to fully harness the potential of this in vitro differentiation system and the application potential are discussed.

Key words: stem cell; embryonic stem cells; induced pluripotent stem cells; cardiomyocytes; in vitro differentiation