Stem cells and regeneration of the cardiovascular system: facts, fictions, and uncertainties.
The data reviewed here support the view that bone marrow (BM) stem cells can migrate to infarcted myocardium and differentiate into mature, functional cardiomyocytes. Cytokines can mobilize BM stem cells from marrow leading to homing of progenitor cells to infarcted myocardium. Interestingly, contractile performance in these studies appears greater than the capacity of the regenerated cell mass and its biomechanial organization predict, suggesting that the function of the regenerated cell per se may not alone account for global functional recovery.
Loscalzo
Joseph
J
Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Evans Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA. jloscalz@bu.edu
D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000628:therapy; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology; D012038:Regeneration; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology