Methods for reprogramming cells and uses thereof

1. An in vitro human cardiac multipotent or unipotent cell possessing all of the following characteristics:

i) is derived from the reprogramming of a non-cardiac lineage somatic cell, progenitor cell or stem cell, by at least a transient increase in expression of at least a pair of cardiac multipotent or unipotent gene regulators to a level at which the at least a pair of cardiac multipotent or unipotent gene regulators, in combination with remodeled chromatin, is capable of driving transformation of the non-cardiac lineage somatic cell, progenitor cell or stem cell into the cardiac multipotent or unipotent cell, wherein the at least a pair of cardiac multipotent or unipotent gene regulators is selected from the group consisting of: (a) Gata4 and Mesp1; (b) Gata4 and Nkx2.5; (c) Gata4 and Tbx5; (d) Mesp1 and Tbx5; (e) Nkx2.5 and Tbx5; (f) Mesp1 and Nkx2.5; (g) FoxD3 and Gata4; (h) Tbx5 and FoxD3; (i) Mesp1 and Brachyury (T); (j) Gata4 and Brachyury (T); and (k) Tbx5 and Brachyury (T);

ii) is not a cancerous cell;

iii) is not artificially maintained by forced gene expression and may be maintained in standard cardiac stem cell media;

iv) can differentiate to a more differentiated cell in the cardiac lineage;

v) does not exhibit uncontrolled growth, teratoma formation, or tumor formation in vivo;

vi) expresses one or more markers of a multipotent, unipotent or somatic cell not characteristic of a cardiac stem cell, cardiac precursor cell, or cardiac progenitor cell; and

vii) has the ability to proliferate for more than 30 population doublings; and

(viii) expresses MLc2.

2. The in vitro human cardiac multipotent or unipotent cell of claim 1 , wherein the cell further possesses one or more of the following characteristics:

i) is capable of being cultured in suspension or as an adherent culture;

ii) is capable of proliferating without the presence of an exogenous reprogramming agent for over 1 month;

iii) expression of one or more markers selected from the group consisting of Nkx2.5, Tbx5, MyoD, and Gata4 upon cardiac differentiation;

iv) expression of one or more markers of a multipotent, unipotent or somatic cell not characteristic of a cardiac stem cell, cardiac precursor cell, or cardiac progenitor cell;

v) capable of maintaining telomerase activity through to at least about 30 population doublings;

vi) is capable of differentiation into one or more of a cardiac precursor cell, a cardiac muscle cell, or to another more differentiated cell type of the cardiac lineage;

vii) has one or more morphological characteristic of a cardiac stem cell or cardiac progenitor cell;

viii) is negative in a tumor colony forming assay;

ix) is negative for tumor growth in Severely Compromised Immuno-Deficient (SCID) mice;

x) is negative for teratoma growth in SCID mice;

xi) is capable of significantly improving one or more functional measures after placement of an adequate number of the cells into a cardiac infarct mouse model; and

xii) is capable of significantly improving or maintaining one or more cardiac functional measures after injecting an adequate number of the cells into a mouse model for cardiovascular disease.

3. A plurality of isolated cells of claim 1 wherein the cells are organized within a three dimensional structure.

4. A plurality of isolated cells of claim 2 wherein the cells are organized within a three dimensional structure.

5. A pharmaceutically-acceptable composition comprising cells according to claim 1 for transplantation into a patient in need thereof.

6. A pharmaceutically-acceptable composition comprising cells according to claim 2 for transplantation into a patient in need thereof.

7. The in vitro human cardiac multipotent or unipotent cell according to claim 1 , wherein the at least a pair of cardiac multipotent or unipotent gene regulators comprises a combination of more than two cardiac multipotent or unipotent gene regulators selected from the group consisting of: (a) Mesp1, Bachyury (T), Nkx2.5 and Tbx5; (b) Foxd3, Sox17, Mesp1 and Nkx2.5; (c) Foxd3, Sox17, Mesp1 and Tbx5; (d) Foxd3, T, Mesp1 and Gata4; (e) Tbx5, Mesp1 and Gata4; (f) Nkx2.5, Tbx5 and Mesp1; (g) Mesp1, Nkx2.5 and Foxd3; (h) Mesp1, Nkx2.5 and Gata4; (i) Gata4, Mesp1 and T; and (j) Gata4, Brachyury (T) and Mesp1.

8. The in vitro human cardiac multipotent or unipotent cell according to claim 2 , wherein the at least a pair of cardiac multipotent or unipotent gene regulators comprises a combination of more than two cardiac multipotent or unipotent gene regulators selected from the group consisting of: (a) Mesp1, Bachyury (T), Nkx2.5 and Tbx5; (b) Foxd3, Sox17, Mesp1 and Nkx2.5; (c) Foxd3, Sox17, Mesp1 and Tbx5; (d) Foxd3, T, Mesp1 and Gata4; (e) Tbx5, Mesp1 and Gata4; (f) Nkx2.5, Tbx5 and Mesp1; (g) Mesp1, Nkx2.5 and Foxd3; (h) Mesp1, Nkx2.5 and Gata4; (i) Gata4, Mesp1 and T; and (j) Gata4, Brachyury (T) and Mesp1.