Cardiovascular Diseases: Where Do We Stand with Human-Derived Stem Cells?

A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Biopharmaceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 3134

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Physiology I, University of Bonn, Nußallee 11, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Interests: cardiovascular physiology; cardiomyocytes; hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes; patch clamp; GPCR signaling

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Guest Editor
Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin, Italy
Interests: cardiovascular physiology,; cardiomyocytes; hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes; cellular metabolism; cardioprotection

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The treatment of cardiac and vascular outcomes is becoming an intriguing global target due to the high morbidity and mortality related to these pathological conditions.

In addition to drug treatments that have produced significant results in preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, the personalized medicine approach seems to be a great opportunity for clinical intervention.

In this scenario, human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) represent a possible tool to be used in a two-way approach: first, in regenerative medicine, particularly those conditions related to the loss of heart function, and second, as a cellular model able to be used instead of animals, which are important models for drug study and application, but, unfortunately, still far from humans. 

This Special Issue aims to present discoveries in the differentiation procedures, function, and physiological and metabolic characterization of hiPSC-derived cells, focusing on their use in treating cardiovascular diseases or drug screening.

Original research papers, critical up-to-date articles, and reviews on the potential use of hiPSC in cardiac and vascular pathologies are welcome. 

Dr. Daniela Malan
Dr. Giulia Querio
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • hiPSC
  • regenerative medicine
  • personalized medicine
  • cardiovascular disease

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

15 pages, 1041 KiB  
Review
The Pathogenic Mechanisms of and Novel Therapies for Lamin A/C-Related Dilated Cardiomyopathy Based on Patient-Specific Pluripotent Stem Cell Platforms and Animal Models
by Xin-Yi Wu, Yee-Ki Lee, Yee-Man Lau, Ka-Wing Au, Yiu-Lam Tse, Kwong-Man Ng, Chun-Ka Wong and Hung-Fat Tse
Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17(8), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph17081030 - 5 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1059
Abstract
Variants (pathogenic) of the LMNA gene are a common cause of familial dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), which is characterised by early-onset atrioventricular (AV) block, atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTs), and progressive heart failure. The unstable internal nuclear lamina observed in LMNA-related DCM [...] Read more.
Variants (pathogenic) of the LMNA gene are a common cause of familial dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), which is characterised by early-onset atrioventricular (AV) block, atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTs), and progressive heart failure. The unstable internal nuclear lamina observed in LMNA-related DCM is a consequence of the disassembly of lamins A and C. This suggests that LMNA variants produce truncated or alternative forms of protein that alter the nuclear structure and the signalling pathway related to cardiac muscle diseases. To date, the pathogenic mechanisms and phenotypes of LMNA-related DCM have been studied using different platforms, such as patient-specific induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) and transgenic mice. In this review, point variants in the LMNA gene that cause autosomal dominantly inherited forms of LMNA-related DCM are summarised. In addition, potential therapeutic targets based on preclinical studies of LMNA variants using transgenic mice and human iPSC-CMs are discussed. They include mitochondria deficiency, variants in nuclear deformation, chromatin remodelling, altered platelet-derived growth factor and ERK1/2-related pathways, and abnormal calcium handling. Full article
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26 pages, 2197 KiB  
Review
Differentiation of Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Modeling: Learning from Heart Development
by Congwu Chi, Truman J. Roland and Kunhua Song
Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17(3), 337; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph17030337 - 5 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1475
Abstract
Heart disease is a pressing public health problem and the leading cause of death worldwide. The heart is the first organ to gain function during embryogenesis in mammals. Heart development involves cell determination, expansion, migration, and crosstalk, which are orchestrated by numerous signaling [...] Read more.
Heart disease is a pressing public health problem and the leading cause of death worldwide. The heart is the first organ to gain function during embryogenesis in mammals. Heart development involves cell determination, expansion, migration, and crosstalk, which are orchestrated by numerous signaling pathways, such as the Wnt, TGF-β, IGF, and Retinoic acid signaling pathways. Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-based platforms are emerging as promising approaches for modeling heart disease in vitro. Understanding the signaling pathways that are essential for cardiac development has shed light on the molecular mechanisms of congenital heart defects and postnatal heart diseases, significantly advancing stem cell-based platforms to model heart diseases. This review summarizes signaling pathways that are crucial for heart development and discusses how these findings improve the strategies for modeling human heart disease in vitro. Full article
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