title: Exploring pericyte and cardiac stem cell secretome unveils new tactics for drug discovery.
abstract: Ischaemic diseases remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality despite continuous advancements in medical and interventional treatments. Moreover, available drugs reduce symptoms associated with tissue ischaemia, without providing a definitive repair. Cardiovascular regenerative medicine is an expanding field of research that aims to improve the treatment of ischaemic disorders through restorative methods, such as gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and tissue engineering. Stem cell transplantation has salutary effects through direct and indirect actions, the latter being attributable to growth factors and cytokines released by stem cells and influencing the endogenous mechanisms of repair. Autologous stem cell therapies offer less scope for intellectual property coverage and have limited scalability. On the other hand, off-the-shelf cell products and derivatives from the stem cell secretome have a greater potential for large-scale distribution, thus enticing commercial investors and reciprocally producing more significant medical and social benefits. This review focuses on the paracrine properties of cardiac stem cells and pericytes, two stem cell populations that are increasingly attracting the attention of regenerative medicine operators. It is likely that new cardiovascular drugs are introduced in the next future by applying different approaches based on the refinement of the stem cell secretome.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Human & Aerospace Physiological Sciences, Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Life Sciences, Guy's Campus, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Georgina M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Ellison-Hughes
authors.affiliation: Chair Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine, Bristol Heart Institute, School of Clinical Sciences University of Bristol Level 7, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol BS2 8HW, United Kingdom. Electronic address: mdprm@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Madeddu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000379:methods*; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D020286:Pericytes / Q000166:cytology; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods
keywords: Cardiac stem cells; Drug discovery; Pericytes; Regenerative medicine; Secretome