Nanotechnology and stem cell therapy for cardiovascular diseases: potential applications.
The use of stem cell therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases has generated significant interest in recent years. Limitations to the clinical application of this therapy center on issues of stem cell delivery, engraftment, and fate. Nanotechnology-based cell labeling and imaging techniques facilitate stem cell tracking and engraftment studies. Nanotechnology also brings exciting new opportunities to translational stem cell research as it enables the controlled engineering of nanoparticles and nanomaterials that can properly relate to the physical scale of cell-cell and cell-niche interactions. This review summarizes the most relevant potential applications of nanoscale technologies to the field of stem cell therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA.
Saverio
S
La Francesca
D000818:Animals; D002309:Cardiology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D058948:Cell Tracking; D004337:Drug Carriers; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles; D049329:Nanostructures; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000295:instrumentation; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
D004337:Drug Carriers