Cell therapy strategies and improvements for muscular dystrophy.
Understanding stem cell commitment and differentiation is a critical step towards clinical translation of cell therapies. In past few years, several cell types have been characterized and transplanted in animal models for different diseased tissues, eligible for a cell-mediated regeneration. Skeletal muscle damage is a challenge for cell- and gene-based therapeutical approaches, given the unique architecture of the tissue and the clinical relevance of acute damages or dystrophies. In this review, we will consider the regenerative potential of embryonic and somatic stem cells and the outcomes achieved on their transplantation into animal models for muscular dystrophy or acute muscle impairment.
Quattrocelli
M
M
Translational Cardiomyology, SCIL Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Herestraat 49 Bus 814, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
Cassano
M
M
Crippa
S
S
Perini
I
I
Sampaolesi
M
M
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies / Q000628:therapy*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation