Fig. 1.

Three pathways for deriving cardiomyocytes for myocardial regeneration [4]. There are (1) full reprogramming approaches (purple line), (2) partial reprogramming approaches (orange line), and (3) direct reprogramming approaches (green line). For the treatment of myocardial infarction and heart failure, (1) iPS-derived cardiomyocytes are about to be clinically studied for myocardial transplantation experiments. (3) Direct cardiac reprogramming does not require cardiomyocyte transplantation and may be feasible through a direct reprogramming approach. (2) Partial reprogramming may offer the advantages of (1) and (3). Further research is desirable in the future