Evaluation of Placental Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sheets for Myocardial Repair and Regeneration

Abstract

This work explores placental tissue as a cell source for fabrication of tissue-engineered surgical patches for myocardial repair of congenital heart defects. This study demonstrates promising findings for the clinically driven evaluation of the cell source as defined by potential cardiac benefit, compatibility, cell source availability, and implant deliverability. It documents methods for the isolation of mesenchymal stem cells from human placental amnion and chorion tissues, characterization of these cells, and eventual cell sheet growth that can be leveraged going forward for patch fabrication. It establishes support to continue pursuing the placenta as a valuable cell source for myocardial repair.