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STEM CELLS

A phoenix rises from the ashes of cardiac cell therapy

The field of cardiac cell therapy is under siege. Legacies of excessive hype, scientific misconduct and dead ends have fuelled the prevailing scepticism. However, promising clinical data, along with more trenchant mechanistic understanding, together provide glimmers of hope for the future of cell therapy for the heart.

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Fig. 1: Overview of mechanisms of action of CDCs and clinical trials involving allogeneic CDCs.

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Acknowledgements

The author is supported by funding from the NIH and the US Department of Defense.

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Correspondence to Eduardo Marbán.

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The author owns founder’s equity in Capricor Therapeutics.

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Marbán, E. A phoenix rises from the ashes of cardiac cell therapy. Nat Rev Cardiol 18, 743–744 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-021-00625-1

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