Zhang Xiaofan, Ren Zhong, Jiang Zhisheng
Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Key Lab for Arteriosclerology of Hunan Province, International Joint Laboratory for Arteriosclerotic Disease Research of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Mol Cell Biochem. 2023 Apr;478(4):755-765. doi: 10.1007/s11010-022-04544-8. Epub 2022 Sep 9.
Cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary artery disease and stroke, are the main threats to human health worldwide. Atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disorder, plays a role as an initiator of all of the above-mentioned diseases. Cell therapy for diseases has attracted widespread attention. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a type of stem cell that still exist in adults and have the characteristics of self-renewal ability, pluripotent differentiation potential, immunomodulation, tissue regeneration, anti-inflammation and low immunogenicity. In light of the properties of MSCs, some researchers have begun to target MSCs to create a possible way to alleviate atherosclerosis. Most of these studies are focused on MSC transplantation, injecting MSCs to modulate macrophages, the key inflammatory cell in atherosclerosis plaque. According to recent studies, researchers found that endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) has something to do with atherosclerosis development. A new cell type MSC might also appear during the EndMT process. In this article, we summarize the characteristics of MSCs, the latest progress of MSC research and its application prospects, and in view of the process of EndMT occurring in atherosclerosis, we propose some new ideas for the treatment of atherosclerosis by targeting MSCs.
心血管疾病，如冠状动脉疾病和中风，是全球人类健康的主要威胁。动脉粥样硬化作为一种慢性炎症性疾病，是上述所有疾病的起始因素。疾病的细胞治疗已引起广泛关注。间充质干细胞（MSCs）是一种存在于成人体内的干细胞，具有自我更新能力、多能分化潜能、免疫调节、组织再生、抗炎和低免疫原性等特性。鉴于MSCs的特性，一些研究人员已开始将目标对准MSCs，以探寻缓解动脉粥样硬化的可能途径。这些研究大多集中在MSCs移植上，即注射MSCs来调节巨噬细胞，后者是动脉粥样硬化斑块中的关键炎症细胞。根据最近的研究，研究人员发现内皮-间充质转化（EndMT）与动脉粥样硬化的发展有关。在EndMT过程中可能还会出现一种新的细胞类型——MSCs。在本文中，我们总结了MSCs的特性、MSCs研究的最新进展及其应用前景，并鉴于动脉粥样硬化中发生的EndMT过程，提出了一些通过靶向MSCs治疗动脉粥样硬化的新思路。
