Heart regeneration: 20 years of progress and renewed optimism

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, and thus there remains great interest in regenerative approaches to treat heart failure. In the past 20 years, the field of heart regeneration has entered a renaissance period with remarkable progress in the understanding of endogenous heart regeneration, stem cell differentiation for exogenous cell therapy, and cell-delivery methods. In this review, we highlight how this new understanding can lead to viable strategies for human therapy. For the near term, drugs, electrical and mechanical devices, and heart transplantation will remain mainstays of cardiac therapies, but eventually regenerative therapies based on fundamental regenerative biology may offer more permanent solutions for patients with heart failure.

Automated summary

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death globally, and there is great interest in regenerative approaches for treating heart failure. In the past 20 years, there has been remarkable progress in the understanding of heart regeneration, stem cell differentiation, and cell-delivery methods. This review discusses how this new understanding can lead to viable strategies for human therapy.