Heart failure is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. End stage disease often requires heart transplantation, which is hampered by donor organ shortage. Tissue engineering represents a promising alternative approach for cardiac repair. For the generation of artificial heart muscle tissue several cell types, scaffold materials and bioreactor designs are under investigation. In this review, the use of mesenchymal stem cells derived from human umbilical cord tissue (UCMSC) for cardiac tissue engineering will be discussed.
Keywords: Umbilical cord tissue; bioreactor; cardiac differentiation; mesenchymal stem cells; non-degradable scaffolds; polytetrafluorethylene; titanium.