Abstract
During the past decades, stem cell-based therapy has acquired a promising role in regenerative medicine. The application of novel cell therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases could potentially achieve the ambitious aim of effective cardiac regeneration. Despite the highly positive results from preclinical studies, data from phase I/II clinical trials are inconsistent and the improvement of cardiac remodeling and heart performance was found to be quite limited. The major issues which cardiac stem cell therapy is facing include inefficient cell delivery to the site of injury, accompanied by low cell retention and weak effectiveness of remaining stem cells in tissue regeneration. According to preclinical and clinical studies, various stem cells (adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells) represent the most promising cell types so far. Beside the selection of the appropriate cell type, researchers have developed several strategies to produce “second-generation” stem cell products with improved regenerative capacity. Genetic and nongenetic modifications, chemical and physical preconditioning, and the application of biomaterials were found to significantly enhance the regenerative capacity of transplanted stem cells. In this review, we will give an overview of the recent developments in stem cell engineering with the goal to facilitate stem cell delivery and to promote their cardiac regenerative activity.
Highlights
During the past decades, stem cell-based therapy has acquired a promising role in regenerative medicine
In the United States alone, approximately one million myocardial infarctions (MI) occur yearly, and many of these patients develop heart failure, which is currently diagnosed in five million patients [1,2,3]
The most frequent cases of tissue ischemia are associated with coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease, which together account for more than half of all Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) [4]
Summary
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the major cause of mortality and disability worldwide. Most commonly applied cell types are the following: bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells, hematopoietic SCs, endothelial progenitor cells, cardiac SCs (CSCs), and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) Their clinical development for the treatment of cardiac patients is very advanced: the most of the clinical translation path is undergone . Upon transplantation into infarcted mice hearts, these synthetic cell particles demonstrated a regenerative capacity comparable to MSCs. Likewise, the same group utilized cell membranes derived from CSCs to fabricate “synthetic stem cell” products, which were found to significantly enhance cardiac remodeling and function in vivo [21]. In addition to the poor delivery of sufficient cell numbers, teratogenic and cancerogenic effects remain one of the biggest concerns for ESC and iPSC application (see Section 2.1) To conclude, this limited outcome of SC intervention urgently requires improving the therapeutic properties of applied cell types in order to increase their impact on cardiac regeneration (Figure 1)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
