Mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord tissue as potentialtherapeutics for cardiomyodegenerative diseases – a review

Document Type : Review Article

Authors
Trixi Hollweck
Günther Eissner
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Munich University Medical Center, Munich, Germany
Abstract
Heart failure is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. End stage disease often requires heart
transplantation, which is hampered by donor organ shortage. Tissue engineering represents a promising
alternative approach for cardiac repair. For the generation of artificial heart muscle tissue several cell types,
scaffold materials and bioreactor designs are under investigation. In this review, the use of mesenchymal stem
cells derived from human umbilical cord tissue (UCMSC) for cardiac tissue engineering will be discussed.
Keywords
Umbilical cord tissue
mesenchymal stem cells
cardiac differentiation
non-degradable scaffolds
polytetrafluorethylene
titanium
bioreactor