Human embryonic stem cells: towards therapies for cardiac disease. Derivation of a Dutch human embryonic stem cell line

Cell transplantation is being discussed as a potential therapy for multiple disorders caused by loss or malfunction of single or at most a few cell types. These include diabetes, Parkinson's disease and myocardial infarction or cardiac failure. However, it is not yet clear whether cells from adult tissues ('adult stem cells') or embryos ('embryonic stem cells') will prove to be the most appropriate replacement cells; most likely, each disease will have its own preferred source. This study presents the background to this discussion and the current state of research in replacement of cardiac tissue, with focus on recent developments using human embryonic stem cells. It also describes a new human embryonic stem cell (HESC) line, NL-HESC1, the first to be derived in the Netherlands, and shows that it forms cardiac cells in a manner comparable with that of hES2 and hES3 cells grown in the same laboratory.