Pluripotent stem cell‐based heart regeneration: From the developmental and immunological perspectives |
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Authors: | Kathy O Lui Lei Bu Ronald A Li Camie W Chan |
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Institution: | 1. Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02114;2. Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Consortium, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong;3. Email:camchan@hku.hk or ronald.li@mssm.edu;6. Departments of Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong;7. Departments of Physiology, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong;8. Center of Cardiovascular Research, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York;9. Departments of Anatomy, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong |
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Abstract: | Heart diseases such as myocardial infarction cause massive loss of cardiomyocytes, but the human heart lacks the innate ability to regenerate. In the adult mammalian heart, a resident progenitor cell population, termed epicardial progenitors, has been identified and reported to stay quiescent under uninjured conditions; however, myocardial infarction induces their proliferation and de novo differentiation into cardiac cells. It is conceivable to develop novel therapeutic approaches for myocardial repair by targeting such expandable sources of cardiac progenitors, thereby giving rise to new muscle and vasculatures. Human pluripotent stem cells such as embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells can self‐renew and differentiate into the three major cell types of the heart, namely cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle, and endothelial cells. In this review, we describe our current knowledge of the therapeutic potential and challenges associated with the use of pluripotent stem cell and progenitor biology in cell therapy. An emphasis is placed on the contribution of paracrine factors in the growth of myocardium and neovascularization as well as the role of immunogenicity in cell survival and engraftment. (Part C) 96:98–107, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. |
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Keywords: | stem cells ESC iPSC heart development immunogenicity regenerative medicine transplantation |
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