title: Possible Muscle Repair in the Human Cardiovascular System.
abstract: The regenerative potential of tissues and organs could promote survival, extended lifespan and healthy life in multicellular organisms. Niches of adult stemness are widely distributed and lead to the anatomical and functional regeneration of the damaged organ. Conversely, muscular regeneration in mammals, and humans in particular, is very limited and not a single piece of muscle can fully regrow after a severe injury. Therefore, muscle repair after myocardial infarction is still a chimera. Recently, it has been recognized that epigenetics could play a role in tissue regrowth since it guarantees the maintenance of cellular identity in differentiated cells and, therefore, the stability of organs and tissues. The removal of these locks can shift a specific cell identity back to the stem-like one. Given the gradual loss of tissue renewal potential in the course of evolution, in the last few years many different attempts to retrieve such potential by means of cell therapy approaches have been performed in experimental models. Here we review pathways and mechanisms involved in the in vivo repair of cardiovascular muscle tissues in humans. Moreover, we address the ongoing research on mammalian cardiac muscle repair based on adult stem cell transplantation and pro-regenerative factor delivery. This latter issue, involving genetic manipulations of adult cells, paves the way for developing possible therapeutic strategies in the field of cardiovascular muscle repair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal and Specialty Medicine, U.O.C. Clinical Immunology, Immunohematology, Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Immunology, Regional Reference Laboratory of Transplant Immunology, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Piazza Miraglia 2, 80138, Naples, Italy. linda.sommese@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sommese
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy.|CEINGE Advanced Biotechnologies, s.c.ar.l, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zullo
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Foundation SDN, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Concetta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schiano
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal and Specialty Medicine, U.O.C. Clinical Immunology, Immunohematology, Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Immunology, Regional Reference Laboratory of Transplant Immunology, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Piazza Miraglia 2, 80138, Naples, Italy.|IRCCS Foundation SDN, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Napoli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000293:injuries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming; D006801:Humans; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012038:Regeneration / Q000235:genetics; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods
keywords: Cardiomyocytes; Epigenetics; Heart repair; Smooth muscle cells; Stem cells; Vascular repair