The efficacy and safety of cell therapy in vivo using human pluripotent stem cell -derived cardiomyocytes.

Abstract

The cell therapy using human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) technology is expected to overcome the donor shortage problem of heart transplantation, however neither the efficacy nor safety of hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (CM) has been well established. The transplantation of hPSC-derived CM potentially has some problems; low engraftment efficiency, concern of tumor formation, and arrhythmia associated with immature cells. In order to resolve these problems, we developed the new techniques to purify and culture a large number of CM in vitro and enhance the cell retention rate in vivo. For clinical application to heart failure, the effective and safe transplantation strategy for the engraftment of hiPSC-derived CM must be established.