Novel Insights into the Role of Heart Cells in Cardiac Function, Remodeling and Regeneration

Dear Colleagues,

The heart is a multicellular organ with highly specialized structures and cells that communicate with each other through direct cell–cell interactions and paracrine signaling, contributing to an organized structure and proper function.

Understanding the signaling pathways involved in cardiac cell expansion, differentiation into a specific lineage, survival within the host tissue, and communication is of paramount importance to boosting their therapeutic application.

In fact, the concept that the heart is a regeneration-capable organ has highlighted the possibility that cell-based therapies may provide alternative, even more effective, treatments to conventional treatments for heart failure.

In parallel, the ability to differentiate human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) represents an inexhaustible and scalable source of differentiated patient-specific cells that carry the same genome as the subject they are derived from, thus representing a valuable in vitro tool for performing mechanistic investigations on specific cardiac diseases and for predictive safety pharmacology in a reliable human-derived screening model. Likewise, restoring coronary circulation by stimulating resident endothelial cells or injecting endothelial precursors could also promote cardiac repair.

We therefore strongly encourage the submission of original research articles, state-of-the-art reviews, and perspective papers that will highlight novel insights into the signaling pathways that drive the fate of cardiac cells and their therapeutic application for both structural and conduction cardiac disturbances. Potential topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

• new perspectives on the role of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and adipose-tissue-derived stem and progenitor cells (ADSCs) in cardiac remodeling and regeneration;
• new perspectives on cardiac resident stem cells;
• novel signaling pathways to boost therapeutic heart therapy interventions;
• application of hiPSCs as a model of heart development for the study of congenital heart disease; and
• innovative strategies for cardiac regeneration and disease modeling.

Dr. Angela Serena Maione
Dr. Francesco Lodola
Dr. Verónica C. De Giusti
Guest Editors

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• cardiovascular diseases;
• signaling pathways;
• cardiac cells;
• cardiac regeneration;
• cardiac remodeling;
• arrhythmias.