Improving heart repair with stem-cell engineered tissue
Strategies to Enhance Engineered Heart Tissue Based Myocardial Repair
This project develops stem-cell tissue patches and supportive materials to help adults recover heart function after a heart attack.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Mayo Clinic Arizona NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Scottsdale, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11229729 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers are developing heart patches made from human stem-cell derived heart cells combined with special nanoparticles and scaffolds to help transplanted cells survive. They plan to boost cell growth in the lab-grown heart cells and use materials that encourage new blood vessel formation so the patches get better blood flow. The team is also creating an injectable, shape-changing scaffold that could be delivered without open-chest surgery. The work uses human-derived cells, lab testing, and animal models to move these approaches toward future clinical use.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults (21+) who have had a recent myocardial infarction or who have ischemic heart muscle damage leading to reduced pumping function would be the likely candidates for future trials.
Not a fit: People without ischemic heart disease, those with non-ischemic causes of heart failure, or individuals with medical reasons that make stem-cell therapies unsafe may not benefit from this approach.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help people who had heart attacks rebuild heart muscle and improve heart function, possibly with less-invasive delivery methods.
How similar studies have performed: Related engineered heart-tissue and stem-cell approaches have shown promising improvements in heart function in animal studies, but they remain unproven in humans.
Where this research is happening
Scottsdale, United States
- Mayo Clinic Arizona — Scottsdale, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zhu, Wuqiang — Mayo Clinic Arizona
- Study coordinator: Zhu, Wuqiang
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.