Stem cells articles within Nature Reviews Cardiology

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  • Review Article |

    In the infarcted heart, pericytes have crucial roles in inflammatory signalling, angiogenesis, and scar formation and stabilization. In this Review, Avolio and colleagues discuss the numerous roles of cardiac pericytes in homeostasis and disease and describe the potential of pericyte-based therapy for restoring the perivascular niche after myocardial infarction.

    • Elisa Avolio
    • , Paola Campagnolo
    •  & Paolo Madeddu

  • Research Highlight |

    A new study shows that cardiovascular diseases remodel the bone marrow vasculature, inducing endothelial dysfunction, vascular leakage, fibrosis and angiogenesis and ultimately leading to overproduction of the inflammatory leukocytes implicated in these conditions.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz

  • News & Views |

    The field of cardiac cell therapy is under siege. Legacies of excessive hype, scientific misconduct and dead ends have fuelled the prevailing scepticism. However, promising clinical data, along with more trenchant mechanistic understanding, together provide glimmers of hope for the future of cell therapy for the heart.

    • Eduardo Marbán

  • News & Views |

    Sequencing studies demonstrate a strong clinical association between clonal haematopoiesis driven by acquired mutations and atherosclerotic disease. Previous research supports the idea that this association reflects a direct contribution of some clonal haematopoiesis-related mutations to atherosclerosis. Now, mathematical modelling suggests that atherosclerosis could instead accelerate clonal haematopoiesis.

    • Fátima Sánchez-Cabo
    •  & José J. Fuster

  • News & Views |

    Valve replacement is currently the only treatment for calcific aortic valve disease. Studies of an uncommon, genetic form of aortic valve disease have yielded in vitro and mouse models of the disease and a transcriptomic disease signature. Machine learning-driven screens for compounds that normalize this signature promise to enable medical management of aortic valve disease.

    • Suya Wang
    •  & William T. Pu

  • Research Highlight |

    A study in an in vitro model of RBM20-deficient dilated cardiomyopathy suggests that pharmacological upregulation of RBM20 with all-trans retinoic acid is a potential therapeutic strategy in patients with a heterozygous RBM20 mutation.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz

  • Review Article |

    In this Review, Murry and colleagues describe the hallmarks of cardiomyocyte maturation and the current approaches to mature stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, highlighting challenges and future directions to generate cardiomyocytes with an optimal maturation state for use in research and regenerative medicine.

    • Elaheh Karbassi
    • , Aidan Fenix
    •  & Charles E. Murry

  • Research Highlight |

    Two studies reporting novel insights into fibroblast identity and activation dynamics provide an important step forward in our understanding of cardiac fibrosis and the quest to develop new anti-fibrotic strategies

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz

  • Research Highlight |

    AIBP-mediated cholesterol efflux promotes the specification of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) in embryogenesis and induces adult HSPC expansion in hypercholesterolaemic conditions, mediated by SREBP2-regulated activation of Notch signalling.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz

  • News & Views |

    Early studies showing that KIT+ cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) could differentiate into cardiomyocytes generated excitement regarding their potential therapeutic application. Subsequent studies called their functional relevance into question, and while claims for a contribution of KIT+ CPCs to myocardial regeneration continue, two new studies confirm the doubts about their relevance to cardiomyogenesis and provide unexpected new insights.

    • Giovanni Maroli
    •  & Thomas Braun

  • Research Highlight |

    The polyploidy of mammalian cardiomyocytes is a barrier to heart regeneration, but modification of the cardiomyocyte cell cycle can boost their regenerative potential.

    • Paulina Strzyz

  • Review Article |

    Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are somatic cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic stem-cell-like state. This technology enables us to study the molecular mechanisms of development and disease processes, and provides a strategy for individualized diagnostics and therapy. In this Review, Timothy Nelson and colleagues describe the steps involved in bioengineering somatic cells to achieve pluripotency, allowing their differentiation into cardiomyocytes or any other cell type. Clinical applications of iPS cells, including treatment of cardiovascular conditions, are also discussed.

    • Timothy J. Nelson
    • , Almudena Martinez-Fernandez
    •  & Andre Terzic

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