Pharmacological Therapy in the Heart as an Alternative to Cellular Therapy: A Place for the Brain Natriuretic Peptide?

Figure 4

Cardiac precursor cells express BNP in neonatal and adult murine hearts. Cardiac precursor cells were defined as small Nkx2.5⁺ cells or c-kit⁺/Nkx2.5⁺ cells or Sca-1⁺/Nkx2.5⁺ cells. Photomicrographs of neonatal or adult heart sections stained for BNP and DAPI (Nuclei) associated with staining for either Nkx2.5 and laminin (a), Nkx2.5 and c-kit (b), or Nkx2.5 and Sca-1 (c). Scale bars represent 80 μm for the pictures in (a) and 10 μm for the pictures in (b) and (c). Yellow arrows depict cells which are considered as being CPCs expressing BNP.

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