title: Thymosin β4: multiple functions in protection, repair and regeneration of the mammalian heart.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite recent improvements in interventional medicine, cardiovascular disease still represents the major cause of morbidity worldwide, with myocardial infarction being the most common cardiac injury. This has sustained the development of several regenerative strategies based on the use of stem cells and tissue engineering approaches in order to achieve cardiac repair and regeneration by enhancing coronary neovascularization, modulating acute inflammation and supporting myocardial regeneration to provide new functional muscle.
  
  
  METHODS
  The actin monomer binding peptide, Thymosin β4 (Tβ4), has recently been described as a powerful regenerative agent with angiogenic, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective effects on the heart and which specifically acts on its resident cardiac progenitor cells. In this review we will discuss the state of the art regarding the many roles of Tβ4 in preserving and regenerating the mammalian heart, with specific attention to its ability to activate the quiescent adult epicardium and specific subsets of epicardial progenitor cells for repair.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The therapeutic potential of Tβ4 for the treatment of cardiac failure is herein evaluated alongside existing, emerging and prospective novel treatments.
authors.affiliation: University of Genova, Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Regenerative Medicine Laboratory , Largo R. Benzi 10, 16132 Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: Sveva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bollini
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Smart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects; D010496:Pericardium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012038:Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D013947:Thymosin / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D000099201:Thymosin beta(4)
chemical_list: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D013947:Thymosin; D000099201:Thymosin beta(4)
keywords: cardiac progenitor cells; cardiac regeneration; myocardial infarction; paracrine effect; thymosin β4