Third Department of Cardiology, University of Athens, Greece.
Circ Res. 2010 Feb 19;106(3):479-94. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.109.208991.
Myocardial regeneration using stem and progenitor cell transplantation in the injured heart has recently become a major goal in the treatment of cardiac disease. Experimental studies and clinical applications have generally been encouraging, although the functional benefits that have been attained clinically are modest and inconsistent. Low cell retention and engraftment after myocardial delivery is a key factor limiting the successful application of cell therapy, irrespective of the type of cell or the delivery method. To improve engraftment, accurate methods for tracking cell fate and quantifying cell survival need to be applied. Several laboratory techniques (histological methods, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, radiolabeling) have provided invaluable information about cell engraftment. In vivo imaging (nuclear medicine modalities, bioluminescence, and MRI) has the potential to provide quantitative information noninvasively, enabling longitudinal assessment of cell fate. In the present review, we present several available methods for assessing cell engraftment, and we critically discuss their strengths and limitations. In addition to providing insights about the mechanisms mediating cell loss after transplantation, these methods can evaluate techniques for augmenting engraftment, such as tissue engineering approaches, preconditioning, and genetic modification, allowing optimization of cell therapies.
利用干细胞和祖细胞移植来实现受损心脏的心肌再生，最近已成为治疗心脏疾病的主要目标。尽管临床获得的功能益处是适度和不一致的，但实验研究和临床应用通常是令人鼓舞的。无论细胞类型或输送方法如何，心肌输送后细胞的保留和植入率低是限制细胞治疗成功应用的关键因素。为了提高植入率，需要应用准确的方法来跟踪细胞命运并量化细胞存活。几种实验室技术（组织学方法、实时定量聚合酶链反应、放射性标记）为细胞植入提供了宝贵的信息。体内成像（核医学方式、生物发光和 MRI）具有提供非侵入性定量信息的潜力，能够对细胞命运进行纵向评估。在本综述中，我们提出了几种评估细胞植入的方法，并对其优缺点进行了批判性讨论。除了提供有关移植后细胞丢失机制的见解外，这些方法还可以评估增强植入的技术，例如组织工程方法、预处理和基因修饰，从而优化细胞治疗。
