Multifaceted Role of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Preclinical Cardiac Regeneration Research

The increasing rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD) worldwide contributes to a worsening quality of life in surviving patients and a socioeconomic burden on the health care system. There is currently no cure for CVD. The innovation of novel cardiovascular therapies has traditionally been significantly stalled due to several obstacles, such as complications resulting from scar tissue formation and the need for a representative and patient-specific cardiac disease model. However, the last two decades have seen the emergence of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which have risen at the forefront of regenerative medicine research as a novel patient-specific stem cell source. In this chapter, we will cover the basics of cell reprogramming, iPSC generation, and quality assessment before moving on to the versatile array of roles that iPSCs hold. We will outline three potential uses of iPSCs in heart regeneration research: as a precursor for patient-specific cells as an in vitro model, as cells for in vivo implantation purposes, and as a source of the secretome. Finally, we aim to highlight the importance of incorporating patient-specific biological characteristics within large-scale research and identify the gaps in the applications of iPSCs in cardiac regenerative medicine.