ES-derived cardiomyocytes (green) fix a damaged mouse heart.
Cell replacement is an attractive therapy for heart failure, which is currently treatable only by organ transplant. But which source of cells makes the best starting material has been a matter of debate. Bone marrow cells were reported to provide some improvement in heart failure patients, but their benefit remains controversial. Kolossov et al. found no improvement of heart function when these cells were injected into mice with ischemic heart injury. Cardiomyocytes derived from ES cells, on the other hand, improved the contractility and blood pumping ability of the injured hearts.
The use of ES cells as starting material for this kind of therapy runs the risk of inducing tumors in the recipient due to...
