Mending an infarcted heart: The possibility of using iPSC technology

iPSCs hold great promise in that a large quantity of cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CM) can be generated and cultured in vitro for clinical purposes. These cells are currently being subjected to vigorous testing in animal transplantation models to ascertain their survivability and functional integration in the injured heart. So far, most of those studies have been conducted in small animals and sometimes in xenogeneic settings, and have produced mixed results. Representing a step forward, a recent study in Nature reported the transplantation of MHC-matched allogeneic monkey iPSC-CM. This was the first time iPSC-CM have been tested in a non-human primate model in an allogeneic setting, which is the next best thing to a human clinical trial.