Cardiac regeneration: stem cells and beyond

Abstract

After myocardial infarction, the lost healthy myocardium is replaced by non-contractile scar tissue which may lead to the development of heart failure and death. There is no curative therapy for the irreversible myocardial cell loss. This review will give an overview of the current options to restore the contractile force of the heart: the different stem cell sources as therapeutic agents in cardiac repair as well as more novel approaches like the activation of endogenous cell populations, the use of paracrine factors and engineered heart tissue.