Stem Cells and Revascularization Therapies

Stem Cells and Revascularization Therapies. Edited by H. Kong, A.J. Putnam, L.B. Schook. 2012, pp. 296, £95.00, ISBN: 978-1-4398-0323-3. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.

In the last few decades, significant advancements in the biology and engineering of stem cells have enabled progress in their clinical application to revascularization therapies. Some strategies involve the mobilization of endogenous stem cell populations, and others employ cell transplantation. However, both techniques have benefited from multidisciplinary efforts to create biomaterials and other biomedical tools that can improve and control the fate of stem cells, and advance our understanding of them.

Stem Cells and Revascularization Therapies focuses on the fundamentals and applied studies in stem cell biology, and provides perspectives associated with the development of revascularization strategies. To help readers understand the multidisciplinary issues associated with this topic, this book has been divided into four sections:

Section 1: Explores how to define, isolate, and characterize various stem and progenitor cell populations for neovascularization.

Section 2: Summarizes some especially useful model systems and approaches used to regulate angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, and arteriogenesis, and explores their impact on formation of functional vessels in vivo.

Section 3: Focuses on stem cell homing to sites of injury and inflammation, as well as strategies to exploit this mobilization phenomenon.

Section 4: Covers stem cell transplantation topics, including recreating features of endogenous stem cell niches to maintain the multipotency of transplanted cells and combinatorial delivery of cells and molecular factors.

Intended to inspire new contributions to improve the therapeutic efficacy, this volume outlines emergent findings and challenges regarding the use of stem cells in revascularization therapies. Overcoming the significant hurdles to our understanding of stem cell biology will enhance their utility in promoting new blood vessel formation.