JAK-STAT signaling in cardiomyogenesis of cardiac stem cells

Recently various kinds of cardiac stem/progenitor cells have been identified and suggested to be involved in cardiac repair and regeneration in injured myocardium. In this review, we focus on the roles of JAK-STAT signaling in cardiac stem/progenitor cells in cardiomyogenesis. JAK-STAT signaling plays important roles in the differentiation of stem cells into cardiac lineage cells. The activation of JAK-STAT signal elicits the mobilization of mesenchymal stem cells as well, contributing to the maintenance of cardiac function. Thus we propose that JAK-STAT could be a target signaling pathway in cardiac regenerative therapy.