title: Priming adult stem cells by hypoxic pretreatments for applications in regenerative medicine.
abstract: The efficiency of regenerative medicine can be ameliorated by improving the biological performances of stem cells before their transplantation. Several ex-vivo protocols of non-damaging cell hypoxia have been demonstrated to significantly increase survival, proliferation and post-engraftment differentiation potential of stem cells. The best results for priming cultured stem cells against a following, otherwise lethal, ischemic stress have been obtained with brief intermittent episodes of hypoxia, or anoxia, and reoxygenation in accordance with the extraordinary protection afforded by the conventional maneuver of ischemic preconditioning in severely ischemic organs. These protocols of hypoxic preconditioning can be rather easily reproduced in a laboratory; however, more suitable pharmacological interventions inducing stem cell responses similar to those activated in hypoxia are considered among the most promising solutions for future applications in cell therapy. Here we want to offer an up-to-date review of the molecular mechanisms translating hypoxia into beneficial events for regenerative medicine. To this aim the involvement of epigenetic modifications, microRNAs, and oxidative stress, mainly activated by hypoxia inducible factors, will be discussed. Stem cell adaptation to their natural hypoxic microenvironments (niche) in healthy and neoplastic tissues will be also considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, 40126, Bologna, Italy. claudio.muscari@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muscari
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonafè
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Govoni
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pasini
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guarnieri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D002470:Cell Survival; D006801:Humans; D019157:Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods*