The discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has transformed stem cell biology and biomedical research. Stem cells show great promise as a cellular source for regenerative cell therapy and have received increasing attention due to their self-renewing capacity and their ability to form multiple cell types. iPSCs can be reprogrammed from somatic cells, such as skin and blood cells, into embryonic stem cell-like pluripotent cells with the ability to generate an unlimited type of human cells. Recent advances in stem cell research have opened the possibility of personalized cell therapies for treating a wide range of human diseases for which there are still no valid cures, effective therapies, or transplantation therapies. In particular, the parallel development of iPSC and gene editing technologies allowed to introduce genetic changes in patient-derived cells for novel therapeutic approaches.

In addition to therapy, in vitro differentiated cells are currently used for drug screening, toxicological studies, and disease modeling to give valuable insights into underlying mechanisms. Indeed, recent progress in the field of cellular reprogramming has opened the door to a new era of disease modeling. In particular, for diseases with no appropriate animal models available, stem cell models represent an invaluable tool for experimental research. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide and many cardiac disorders, such as myocardial infarction (MI) or ischemic damage (ID), are characterized by massive cardiac myocyte death. The loss of cardiomyocytes irreversibly damages the heart with a progressive decrease in its functionality. Therefore, the discovery of iPSC and the subsequent generation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) was a crucial point in cardiovascular research. Importantly, human iPSC-derived cardiac cells can recapitulate the genetic background of donor somatic cells. These cells are promising for both modelling human cardiac disorders that are often complex, polygenic, and strongly influenced by environmental and genetic factors (such as inherited cardiomyopathies) but also for cardiac repair and regenerative medicine.

The aim of this Special Issue is to invite researchers to contribute with original research articles as well as review articles, which will increase knowledge in personalized cell therapy using stem cells. Potential topics can be related to stem cell biology and stem cell-based cardiac disease modelling and therapy.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Induced pluripotent stem cells
• Development of new technologies for generating or differentiating iPS cells
• Maturation of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes
• iPSCs for modeling of cardiovascular traits and disorders
• Genome editing for establishing or correcting genetic changes
• Treatment of cardiac disease by pluripotent stem cells
• Stem cell-mediated tissue regeneration