Cell sheet tissue engineering for heart failure

Abstract

In recent years, regenerative medicine using cells for treating tissue defects has been in the spotlight as a new treatment for severe heart failure. Direct injection of bone marrow-derived cells and isolated skeletal myoblasts has already been used clinically as a method to improve cardiac function by regenerating cardiac muscle cells and blood vessels. The research on reconstructing functional three-dimensional (3D) cardiac grafts using tissue engineering methods has also nowbeen addressed as a treatment for the next generation. Our laboratory has proposed an original tissue engineering technology called "cell sheet engineering" that stacks cell sheets to reconstruct functional 3Dtissues. Transplantation of cell sheets has already shown it can cure damaged hearts, and it seems clear that the field of cell sheet tissue engineering can offer realistic treatment for patients with severe cardiac disorders.