Cardiac stem cells: Current knowledge and future prospects

Figure 1 Embryonic cardiac progenitors, Brachyury-positive mesoderm precursors and Pax3⁺ neural crest cells. Brachyury (Bry⁺) mesoderm precursors give rise to the mesoderm posterior 1⁺ primordial precursors, which are the origin of the first heart field, second heart field, and proepicardial progenitors, each population of which is responsible for the development of different parts in the heart. Pax3⁺ neural crest cells are responsible for the development of vascular smooth muscle, outflow tract, valves and the conductive system. Progenitors are tagged with their specific markers. Created with BioRender.com. CPC: Cardiac progenitor cell; LT: Left; RT: Right; FHF: First heart field; SHF: Second heart field; OFT: Outflow tract.