autologous c-kit+ cardiac stem cells (University of Louisville)

Autologous c-kit+ cardiac stem cells (CSCs) are a cell therapy modality developed by the University of Louisville for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy. The therapy involves harvesting tissue from the patient's right atrial appendage during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, isolating c-kit-positive and lineage-negative stem cells, and expanding them *ex vivo*. These cells are then delivered via intracoronary infusion with the goal of regenerating infarcted myocardium and improving left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients with heart failure. This specific program was the focus of the Phase 1 SCIPIO trial. However, the field was significantly impacted when the primary results of the SCIPIO trial, originally published in *The Lancet* in 2011, were retracted in 2019 due to concerns over data integrity and manipulation, effectively halting the clinical development of this specific protocol.

Other names

c-kit+ CSCsautologous cardiac stem cellsc-kit+ lineage-negative cardiac stem cellsSCIPIO cells