Marrelli Health, Tecnologica Research Institute, Biomedical Section, Street E. Fermi, Crotone, Italy.
Department of Therapeutic Dentistry, IM Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.
Int J Biol Sci. 2019 Jul 25;15(10):2029-2036. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.36362. eCollection 2019.
Apoptosis plays a central role in organs development and homeostasis. Impaired regulation of this process is often associated with the onset of several human diseases, such as developmental disorders and cancer. The last scientific investigations have discovered interesting connections between apoptosis, stem cells, tissue regeneration and cancer. The role of "programmed cell death" in stem cells and tissue engineering is extremely promising; in fact, it holds great potential for regenerative purposes. However, several questions still remain unsolved: do we really know all the main molecular actors able to switch ON/OFF the apoptosis? Is it possible to modulate these players, to obtain a predictable regeneration of tissues and organs? But primarily: should we reconsider the apoptosis as a strategic player in tissue regeneration? In this topical review, we have carefully examined the most recent discoveries about the role of apoptosis in stem cells and, specifically, in mesenchymal stem cells. The pivotal molecules involved in the activation and inhibition of the apoptotic pathways will be carefully described, with the aim to shed an overall light on the complex scenario of stem cell life and death, and on a novel strategy for tissue regeneration.
细胞凋亡在器官发育和稳态中起着核心作用。这个过程的调节受损通常与几种人类疾病的发生有关，如发育障碍和癌症。最近的科学研究发现了细胞凋亡、干细胞、组织再生和癌症之间的有趣联系。“程序性细胞死亡”在干细胞和组织工程中的作用极具前景；事实上，它在再生方面具有巨大的潜力。然而，仍有几个问题尚未解决：我们是否真的了解所有能够开启/关闭细胞凋亡的主要分子作用因子？是否可以调节这些参与者，以获得可预测的组织和器官再生？但首先：我们是否应该重新将细胞凋亡视为组织再生的策略性参与者？在本次专题综述中，我们仔细研究了细胞凋亡在干细胞中、特别是间充质干细胞中的作用的最新发现。将详细描述参与凋亡途径激活和抑制的关键分子，旨在全面阐明干细胞生死的复杂情况，并提出一种组织再生的新策略。
