The 'hearty' fat: adipocytes as a source of functional cardiomyocytes

Abstract

Repair of tissues or organs, characterized by a limited regenerative potential, is the major goal of cell therapy. Cardiac pathologies are among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in industrialized countries, and current treatments are aimed at preserving the cardiac function compromised by the pathology rather than restoring the proper functions. The discovery of various stem/progenitor cells with different degrees of plasticity has opened the possibility to regenerate the lost myocardium and thus to improve cardiac function. Stem cells can be classified as pluripotent or multipotent on the basis of their differentiation capacity. Although the ability of pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into cardiomyocytes is well established,1,2 their high teratogenic potential is one of the major limitations of their use in therapeutic interventions.3,4 Multipotent stem cells of mesodermal origin such as haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), skeletal myoblasts, and cardiac stem cells (CSCs), might represent a more suitable source of cells for autologous interventions. Unfortunately, their ability to differentiate into cardiomyocytes is still being debated.5 Adipose tissue is composed of mature adipocytes and of adipose stromal cells (ASCs), and it has recently emerged as a … *Corresponding author. Tel: +39 02 503 14941, Fax: +39 02 503 14932, Email: andrea.barbuti{at}unimi.it