Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Mar 26, 2015; 7(2): 352-367
Published online Mar 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i2.352
“Second-generation” stem cells for cardiac repair
Alberto Núñez García, Ricardo Sanz-Ruiz, María Eugenia Fernández Santos, Francisco Fernández-Avilés
Alberto Núñez García, Ricardo Sanz-Ruiz, María Eugenia Fernández Santos, Francisco Fernández-Avilés, Instituto para la Investigación Biomédica del Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, 28007 Madrid, Spain
Alberto Núñez García, Ricardo Sanz-Ruiz, María Eugenia Fernández Santos, Francisco Fernández-Avilés, Department of Internal Medicine, Complutense University - School of Medicine, 28007 Madrid, Spain
Alberto Núñez García, Ricardo Sanz-Ruiz, Francisco Fernández-Avilés, Department of Cardiology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, 28007 Madrid, Spain
María Eugenia Fernández Santos, Laboratory of Bioartificial Organs and Scaffolds, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, 28007 Madrid, Spain
Author contributions: Núñez García A performed literature review and wrote the paper; Sanz-Ruiz R reviewed, supervised and approved the manuscript; Fernández Santos ME reviewed the manuscript; Fernández-Avilés F reviewed and approved the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ricardo Sanz-Ruiz, MD, Department of Cardiology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Doctor Esquerdo 46, 28007 Madrid, Spain. rsanzruiz@hotmail.com
Telephone: +34-914-265882 Fax: +34-915-868276
Received: August 6, 2014
Peer-review started: August 6, 2014
First decision: September 4, 2014
Revised: September 26, 2014
Accepted: November 7, 2014
Article in press: November 7, 2014
Published online: March 26, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: Myocardial infarction and heart failure represent two of the most prevalent and fatal diseases. Stem cell therapies represent a novel approach capable of restoring the cellular loss observed in these conditions. Data from initial human studies have been encouraging but inconclusive. However, refinements in cell populations as well as new stem cell sources are currently being tested in large phase III clinical trials after showing positive results in preclinical models and early clinical reports, thus holding a promise for the achievement of a true myocardial regeneration after myocardial infarction. We review here recent developments in this field.