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Stem cells and their potential in cell-based cardiac therapies.

Christoforou N, Gearhart JD

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Institute for Cell Engineering, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. nicolas@jhmi.edu

Stem cells are potential agents for the treatment of myocardial infarcts among other heart diseases. Over the past decade, the scientific community has extensively used a wide variety of cells and examined their capacity to both regenerate the infarcted myocardium and improve functionally the diseased hearts. Some of the cells used include skeletal myoblasts, bone marrow-derived cells, adult cardiac resident stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and both mouse and human embryonic stem cells (Nat Biotechnol 2005;23:845-856). The reported cardiogenic capacity of the utilitized stem cells is assayed both in vitro through the use of differentiation paradigms and in vivo through transplantation into a variety of animal models of cardiac disease. The purpose of this review article is to summarize recent stem cell applications in cell-based cardiac therapies and their outcomes.

Published 14 May 2007 in Prog Cardiovasc Dis, 49(6): 396-413.
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