Delivery and tracking of therapeutic cell preparations for clinical cardiovascular applications.
Experimental observations suggesting adult stem cell plasticity and cross-lineage transdifferentiation have underpinned the investigation of cell therapy for cardiovascular disease. Many challenges still face the full realization of cardiovascular regenerative medicine. This brief review will highlight some of these, with emphasis on the choice of cell preparation, route of cell delivery and tracking of delivered cells.
de Silva
R
R
Cardiovascular Branch National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1538, USA.
Lederman
R J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous