A reaction-diffusion numerical model to predict cardiac tissues regeneration via stem cell therapy

Myocardial infarction is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the industrialized world. Extensive loss of cardiomyocytes, substituted by scarred tissue, is the key pathological mechanism leading to post infarction heart failure. The use of exogenous cells to replace lost cardiomy-ocytes has been demonstrated in animal models and in clinical trials by transplanting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into the infarcted area. To optimize the initial conditions of the stem cell therapy, many experimental studies are focused on determining the number and the localization of stem cells that must be implanted near the necrotic area. In this work we develop a quantitative numerical model able to simulate substrate concentration profile, stem cells distribution and their proliferation near the ischemic area. The model describes the cell growth, the nutrient transport and its consumption through reaction-diffusion equations. The shrinking of the necrotic area leads in fact to a moving boundary problem. Some preliminary results, obtained in a 3D framework, are shown and discussed.