Current status of myocardial regeneration therapy

Myocardial regeneration therapy has emerged as an alternative therapy for heart failure and is expected to replace the current conventional therapies. Resident cardiac stem cells have been detected and reported as a cell source by many researchers. These resident cardiac stem cells show multipotency and are considered to differentiate into myocytes. Meanwhile, bone marrow stem cells have received the greatest attention as a cell source for cell transplantation therapy in the current era, with a larger number of clinical applications reported because they are easy and safe to use. Myoblasts have also emerged as a possible cell source for clinical applications. We previously found that myoblast cell sheet implantation improved cardiac function and ventricle thickness in a rat myocardial infarction (MI) model. Furthermore, we conducted a preclinical large animal study using porcine MI and dog DCM models, and confirmed the effectiveness of skeletal myoblast sheets. Thereafter, we conducted clinical applications of skeletal myoblast implantation. It may eventually be possible to perform regeneration therapy as a routine therapeutic method.