Skeletal myoblasts for cardiac repair in animal models

Abstract

Cell therapy for cardiovascular disease has become a major area of research. Among different types of stem cells used for cardiac repair, skeletal myoblasts (SkM) are not endowed with the potential to differentiate into functional cardiomyocytes. However, certain characteristics such as their potential to give rise to mature myofibres, to induce vasculogenesis, or to alter collagen deposition and decrease fibrosis after infarction as well as their resistance to hypoxia provide an argument for their use in cell therapy approaches of cardiac diseases. A vast experience accumulated during the last 15 years in different animal models of cardiac disease clearly indicates that transplantation of SkM in models of chronic myocardial infarction is associated with improvement of cardiac function. Understanding the mechanism by which SkM contributes to heart function and increasing cell engraftment while reducing invasiveness of the procedure are reasonable steps in order to improve the functional results of cell therapy with SkM. Here we discuss some of the current approaches aimed to improve cardiac cell therapy with SkM. © The Author 2008.