The creation of effective regenerative therapies for the aging heart is an area of active research and development. Cell therapies based on delivery of cardiomyocytes proved to be challenging, as just as in every other early approach to cell therapy, near all transplanted cells fail to survive. More recently researchers have engineered tissue patches made up of cardiomyocytes and supporting artificial extracellular matrix structures made of hydrogels and other materials. When such a patch is applied to injured heart tissue, it allows more of the transplanted cells to surv…
Understanding the Aging of the Heart Extracellular Matrix as a Basis for Better Tissue Engineering
The creation of effective regenerative therapies for the aging heart is an area of active research and development. Cell therapies based on delivery of cardiomyocytes proved to be challenging, as just as in every other early approach to cell therapy, near all transplanted cells fail to survive. More recently researchers have engineered tissue patches made up of cardiomyocytes and supporting artificial extracellular matrix structures made of hydrogels and other materials. When such a patch is applied to injured heart tissue, it allows more of the transplanted cells to surv…