Endothelial Progenitor Cells (eBook)

Preface.-1. Chapter: From the Regenerative Medicine to Endothelial progenitor cells as potentialcandidates.-1.1 Regenerative Medicine: a new branch of Translational Medicine.-1.1.1 Stem cell therapy.-1.1.2. Stem cells as appropriate candidates of cell therapy: types of stem cells.-1.2 Endothelial progenitor cells: other emerging candidates for RegMed therapeutictreatment.-1.2.1 Evidence of several circulating subpopulations of EPC cells.-1.2.2 EPC cells from BM to differentiation in EC mature cells and the formation of new vessels.-1.3 Phenotypical Markers and levels of circulating EPCs in adult subjects.-  1.3.1 EPC quantification using flow cytometry and its limitation.-1.3.2 Factors modulating EPC quantitative and qualitative evaluation by flow cytometry.-1.3.3 Pathological or physiological conditions as factors able to modulate EPC quantitative and qualitative evaluation.-1.4 The complex process of regulation of EPC biology and function: new insights on the key role of Notch, ROS and Wnt pathways and their crosstalk, and epigenetics.-1.5 Conclusions.-2. Chapter:  Endothelial progenitor cells and their clinical applications as potential disease biomarkers and therapeutic agents: evidence and controversies in their effectiveness.-2.1 Endothelium dysfunction as the early event of chronic age-related diseases: EPCs as cellular biomarkers.-2.2 Relationship between circulating EPC levels and age-related diseases.-    2.2.1 Unfavourable Factors associated with Decreased Circulating EPC Levels.-2.2.2 Physiological Factors and high Circulating EPC Levels.-2.3 Correlation between blood EPC levels and cardiovascular profile.-    2.3.1 Atherosclerosis.-2.3.2 Hypertension.-2.3.3 Coronary artery disease (CAD).-2.3.4 Bicuspid aortic valve, Aortic valve regurgitation (AR) and Aneurysm.-2.3.5 Cerebral ischemia.-2.3.6 Other CVD diseases.-2.4 EPC cells in Alzheimer disease.-2.5 Diabetes and EPC cells.-    2.6 EPC cells in solid and haematological cancers, and recent controversies on their incorporation into tumour neovessels.-2.7 EPCs as Therapeutic Agents.-2.7.1. EPCS as Therapeutic Agents for CVDs: focus on ischemia disease treatment. Capacity and doubts.-2.7.2. The clinical results and indications of autologous therapies.-2.8 EPC cells as Therapeutic Agents for Cancer: focus on anti-VEGF treatments and controversies in their efficacy.-2.9 EPCs as Therapeutic Agents for Alzheimer disease.-2.10 EPCs as Therapeutic Agents for Diabetes.-. 2.11  Controversies  about  EPC use  as optimal candidates  for cell therapy.- 2.12 Conclusions and perspectives.-3. Chapter: EPCs: a real hope or an unrealizable dream?  Which measures or strategies are necessary for achieving the real hope? Focus on  a potential roadmap.-3.1.  EPCs: a real hope or an unrealizable dream?.-3.2 Priming of EPC cells for improving their therapeutic efficacy.-3.3 Bio-nanotechnology as support of EPC based therapies.-3.4 Tissue engineering.-3.5 Combined strategies for raising biological repair.-3.6 Reprogramming for counteracting the ageing and the senescence of EPC cells?.- 3.7 Conclusions.-Acronyms.