Methods and compositions for the repair and/or regeneration of damaged myocardium

A biotechnological process of restoring functional and structural integrity to damaged myocardium in a subject comprising administering multiple doses of at least one cytokine between storage areas of resident adult cardiac stem cells in the subject's heart and a border zone of the damaged myocardium, thereby generating a chemotactic gradient sufficient to replicate and migrate said adult cardiac stem cells to the damaged myocardium, wherein the functional and structural integrity of the damaged myocardium is at least partially restored following the migration of said adult cardiac stem cells to the area of damaged myocardium.

A method of restoring functional and structural integrity to damaged myocardium in a subject in need thereof comprising administering to the subject multiple doses of hepatocyte growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1 between storage areas of resident adult cardiac stem cells in the subject's heart and a border zone of the damaged myocardium, thereby generating a chemotactic gradient sufficient to cause adult cardiac stem cells resident in the heart to replicate and migrate to the damaged myocardium, wherein the adult cardiac stem cells differentiate into myocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells, and wherein at least some of the differentiated adult cardiac stem cells assemble into myocardial tissue and myocardial vessels.