Fig. 3.

A comparison of cell-based therapies for heart repair with a hypothetical bioengineering approach. In cell-based therapies cells are injected directly into the infarct (yellow). Bioengineering approaches involve injecting cells (or progenitors) of both the cardiac and vascular lineages that have been encapsulated or coated on hydrogels. Hydrogels have been show to effectively preserve the 3-dimensional structure of the ventricular wall after myocardial infarction. They have also been shown to facilitate engraftment of donor cells and promote the physiological maturation of engrafted cells. Finally, hydrogels can be used for localized delivery of growth factors and drugs.