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Cardiac stem cells: translation to human studies

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Abstract

The discovery of multiple classes of cardiac progenitor cells in the adult mammalian heart has generated hope for their use as a therapeutic in heart failure. However, successful results from animal models have not always yielded similar findings in human studies. Recent Phase I/II trials of c-Kit (SCIPIO) and cardiosphere-based (CADUCEUS) cardiac progenitor cells have demonstrated safety and some therapeutic efficacy. Gaps remain in our understanding of the origins, function and relationships between the different progenitor cell families, many of which are heterogeneous populations with overlapping definitions. Another challenge lies in the limitations of small animal models in replicating the human heart. Cryopreserved human cardiac tissue provides a readily available source of cardiac progenitor cells and may help address these questions. We review important findings and relative unknowns of the main classes of cardiac progenitor cells, highlighting differences between animal and human studies

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Notes

  1. Lineage markers are found on mature haematopoietic cells and lineage depletion selects for a subpopulation enriched in early progenitor cells not yet expressing lineage markers

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for funding from the Bosch Institute.

Conflict of interest

Zijun Ge, Sean Lal, Thi YL Le, Cris dos Remedios, James JH Chong declare that they do not have any conflict of interest regarding the present manuscript.

Human and animal studies

This article does not contain any original studies with either human participants or with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bosch Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Zijun Ge, Sean Lal & Cris dos Remedios

  2. Department of Cardiology Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Thi Y. L. Le & James J. H. Chong

  3. Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Zijun Ge, Sean Lal & James J. H. Chong

  4. Centre for Heart Research, Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, 176 Hawkesbury Road, Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2145

    Thi Y. L. Le & James J. H. Chong

  5. Department of Cardiology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Sean Lal

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  1. Zijun Ge
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  2. Sean Lal
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  3. Thi Y. L. Le
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  4. Cris dos Remedios
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  5. James J. H. Chong
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Correspondence to James J. H. Chong.

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Special Issue: Biophysics of Human Heart Failure

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Ge, Z., Lal, S., Le, T.Y.L. et al. Cardiac stem cells: translation to human studies. Biophys Rev 7, 127–139 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-014-0148-0

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