SUMMARYOur data suggest that, after a myocardial infarction, integrin-associated protein CD47 on cardiac myocytes is elevated. In culture, increased CD47 on the surface of dying cardiomyocytes impairs phagocytic removal by immune cell macrophages. After myocardial ischemia and reperfusion, acute CD47 inhibition with blocking antibodies enhanced dead myocyte clearance by cardiac phagocytes and also improved the resolution of cardiac inflammation, reduced infarct size, and preserved cardiac contractile function. Early targeting of CD47 in the myocardium after reperfusion may be a new strategy to enhance wound repair in the ischemic heart.

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Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play a major role in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases. The advent of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology and their capability to differentiation into virtually every cell type in the human body make this field a ray of hope for vascular regenerative therapy and for understanding disease mechanism. In this review, we first discuss the recent iPSC technology and vascular smooth muscle development from embryo and then examine different methodology to derive VSMCs from iPSCs and their applications in regenerative therapy and disease modeling.

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