CD133-Positive Cells for Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy: Current Status and Outlook.

Ischemic heart disease represents one major cause of death in developed countries. Ten years ago, cardiac application of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells was introduced as a new therapeutic strategy with the aim of restoring the function of ischemic myocardium. Among other cell populations, CD133(+) bone marrow stem cells form a major subpopulation of progenitor cells studied in this context. Following promising preclinical evidence, both cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists have applied CD133(+) cells in setting of chronic ischemic heart failure as well as acute myocardial infarction within phase I and II clinical trials. This chapter summarizes the rationale for the use of this stem cell subpopulation in the field of regenerative cardiac therapy strategies and gives an overview on the current clinical evidence as well as upcoming phase III trials.