Pericytes and cardiac stem cells: Common features and peculiarities

Abstract

Clinical data and basic research indicate that the structural and functional alterations that characterize the evolution of cardiac disease towards heart failure may be, at least in part, reversed. This paradigm shift is due to the accumulation of evidence indicating that, in peculiar settings, cardiomyocytes may be replenished. Moving from the consideration that cardiomyocytes are rapidly withdrawn from the cell cycle after birth, independent laboratories have tested the hypothesis that cardiac resident stem/progenitor cells resided in mammalian hearts and were important for myocardial repair. After almost two decades of intensive investigation, several (but partially overlapping) cardiac resident stem/progenitor cell populations have been identified. These primitive cells are characterized by mesenchymal features, unique properties that distinguish them from mesodermal progenitors residing in other tissues, and heterogeneous embryological origins (that include the neural crest and the epicardium). A further layer of complexity is related to the nature, in vivo localization and properties of mesodermal progenitors residing in adult tissues. Intriguingly, these latter, whose possible perivascular pericyte/mural cell origin has been shown, have been identified in human hearts too. However, their exact anatomical localization, pathophysiological role, and their relationship with cardiac stem/progenitor cells are emerging only recently. Therefore, aim of this review is to discuss the different origin, the distinct nature, and the complementary effect of cardiac stem cells and pericytes supporting regenerative strategies based on the combined use of both myogenic and angiogenic factors.

Message in a Bottle: Upgrading Cardiac Repair into Rejuvenation

“…In the last few years, there have been high expectations that endogenous stromal cardiac mesenchymal cells, originally defined as cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs), were endowed with cardiomyogenic and cardiovascular commitment potential. Indeed, CPCs have been long considered as an appealing source for cardiac regeneration via their in situ reactivation, expansion and differentiation or, alternatively, by means of trans-differentiation of either autologous or allogeneic ones transplanted into the injured myocardium [48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] Multiple independent investigators have reported several heterogeneous CPC populations according to specific isolation protocols and marker expression patterns [54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. Notably, CPCs and, in particular, epicardium-derived progenitor cells, namely EPDCs, have been suggested to play a pivotal role in modulating the underlying myocardium and directly supporting to coronary vascular smooth muscle cells, cardiac fibroblasts and possibly a small proportion of ventricular cardiomyocytes.…”

Myocardial Telocyte-Like Cells: A Review Including New Evidence

“…The positive identification of primitive cardiac cells was performed using a few antigenic markers, namely cardiac stem/progenitor cells known to express either c-kit, the stem cell factor receptor, or sca-1 [Beltrami and Madeddu, 2018]. Therefore, the c-kit+ and/or sca-1+ TC-like cells identified by means of light microscopy could also be TC-like cardiac stem/progenitor cells that were not tested for other specific markers, such as Isl-1, or other markers of mesenchymal stem cells.…”

Heterocellularity and Cellular Cross-Talk in the Cardiovascular System

“…In larger vessels of the myocardium, a sparse layer of pericytes separates the endothelium from the VSMCs and the elastic structures of the vessel ( 66 ). Morphologically they can be distinguished for their thin and elongated cytoplasm, numerous finger-like projections and the rounded nucleus ( 67 , 68 ). A range of surface (PDGFRβ, CD146, CD13 and NG2) or cytoplasmic markers (αSMA, desmin, vimentin, and nestin) are commonly used to identify this specific cell population ( 68 – 70 ).…”