Cardiac repair and regeneration: the Rubik's cube of cell therapy for heart disease

• Published in: Disease models & mechanisms Vol. 2; no. 7-8; pp. 344 - 358
• Main Authors: Boudoulas, Konstantinos D, Hatzopoulos, Antonis K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Company of Biologists Ltd 01.07.2009; The Company of Biologists Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Apoptosis; Blood vessels; Bone marrow; Bone Marrow Cells - cytology; Cardiac function; Cardiomyocytes; Cardiomyopathy; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy - methods; Chemokines; Clinical Trials as Topic; Collagen; Coronary vessels; Cytokines; Embryonic Stem Cells - cytology; Engraftment; Extracellular matrix; Fibrosis; Heart attacks; Heart Diseases - surgery; Heart Diseases - therapy; Heart failure; Humans; Inflammation; Ischemia; Kinases; Models, Biological; Myocardial Ischemia - pathology; Proteins; Quality of life; Regeneration; Regenerative Medicine - methods; Stem Cell Transplantation - methods; Stem Cells; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Veins & arteries

Acute ischemic injury and chronic cardiomyopathies damage healthy heart tissue. Dead cells are gradually replaced by a fibrotic scar, which disrupts the normal electromechanical continuum of the ventricular muscle and compromises its pumping capacity. Recent studies in animal models of ischemic card...