Improved Differentiation of Stem Cells into Cardiac Muscle Cells for Cardiac Tissue Repair

This approach advances the maturation of stem cells or progenitor cells, cells that differentiate like stem cells, to produce functional, biocompatible cardiomyocytes for the repair of damaged cardiac tissue. Cardiomyocytes are specialized cardiac muscle cells essential for cardiac muscle health. Cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide, kills one in four Americans annually. A heart attack alone irreversibly destroys one billion cardiomyocytes, which can cause heart failure. Recent research suggests progenitor cells have the potential for regeneration; however attempts to produce functional cardiomyocytes from these cells are limited by their immature phenotype and inability to generate sufficient tissue. Clemson University researchers and their cardiac research collaborators at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have developed an approach for producing functional, mature cardiomyocytes from progenitor cells by incorporating electrically conductive nanomaterials into scaffold free spheroids. By introducing trace amounts of novel electrically conductive nanowires (e-NWs) into cardiac spheroids, the potential for regeneration of damaged tissue from progenitor cells is possible.