Ricerc@Sapienza

Purpose of Review: Cell therapy for cardiovascular diseases is regarded as a rapidly growing field within regenerative medicine. Different cellular populations enriched for cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs), or derivate a-cellular products, are currently under preclinical and clinical evaluation. Here, we have reviewed the described mechanisms whereby resident post-natal CPCs, isolated in different ways, act as a therapeutic product on the damaged myocardium.

During embryonic morphogenesis, the heart undergoes a complex series of cellular phenotypic maturations (e.g. transition of myocytes from proliferative to quiescent or maturation of the contractile apparatus), and this involves stiffening of the extracellular matrix acting in concert with morphogenetic signals. The maladaptive remodelling of the myocardium, one of the processes involved in determination of heart failure, also involve mechanical cues, with a progressive stiffening of the tissue that produces cellular mechanical damage, inflammation and ultimately myocardial fibrosis.