Japan Startup Conducts Trial on Heart Treatment Using iPS Cells

   Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese startup has said it conducted a clinical trial to transplant a treatment sheet containing cardiac muscle cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells into a patient with a heart muscle disease.
   The surgery to transplant the sheet into the patient with dilated cardiomyopathy was performed at the end of May at the Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital. The patient has already been discharged from the hospital.
   The regenerative medicine startup, iHeart Japan Corp., based in the western city of Kyoto, said on Monday that the patient will undergo monitoring so that the company can assess the treatment's safety and efficacy.
   IHeart Japan layered three types of cells, including those of heart muscles and blood vessels. Gelatin particles were added to the layers of the cells to create the round sheet measuring about 4 centimeters in diameter and 1 millimeter in thickness.
   When placed on the surface of the heart, the sheet is expected to improve the heart's contraction partly through the functions of exosomes, or vesicles produced by cells.

(2025/07/29-16:23)