Metabolism-based cardiomyocytes production for regenerative therapy

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are currently used in clinical applications such as cardiac regenerative therapy, studying disease models, and drug screening for heart failure. Transplantation of hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) can be used as an alternative therapy for heart transplantation. In contrast to differentiated somatic cells, hPSCs possess unique metabolic programs to maintain pluripotency, and understanding their metabolic features can contribute to the development of technologies that can be useful for their clinical applications. The production of hPSC-CMs requires stepwise specification during embryonic development and metabolic regulation is crucial for proper embryonic development. These metabolic features have been applied to hPSC-CM production methods, such as mesoderm induction, specifications for cardiac progenitors, and their maturation. This review describes the metabolic programs in hPSCs and the metabolic regulation in hPSC-CM production for cardiac regenerative therapy.