Applications and Advancements in Stem Cells for Cardiac Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Heart disease has continued to be the leading cause of death in the world (Mc Namara et al., 2019). Despite the growing need for a therapeutic, regenerative medicine approach, there has been a lack of advancements resulting in possible treatment options for these patients. Researchers have developed various approaches to combat the adversities of heart disease, ranging from small-scale cardiac patches to large-scale whole organ regeneration approaches. Although these findings are still preliminary, they provide potential therapeutic approaches. The main ingredient towards this promising direction are stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, in which induced pluripotent stem cells are reprogrammed through signaling pathways to mimic characteristics of mature cardiac cells. With these self-renewing cardiac cells, researchers have been able to formulate hydrogel patches that mimic the environment of the cardiac tissue to eventually mend the injury and pump synchronously. For deeper penetration and favored nutrient flow, a process known as FRESH 2.0 has created a ventricular scaffold printing method that aids in the oxygen, nutrients, and signaling flow for bioprinted organ parts (Lee et al., 2019). In developing these tissues, SWIFT has progressed the needed cellular density to produce a cardiomyocyte rich artificial organ (Skylar-Scott et al., 2019). These successes still face drawbacks with perfusable vascularization, cell density on a whole organ scale, consistent maturation of cardiomyocytes, and clinical applications. Nonetheless, researchers have made significant advancements for regenerative medicine regarding the cardiac tissue, and will continue to expand their look towards a successful replication of the whole organ.