Cardiac Regeneration and Repair, Volume One reviews the pathology of cardiac injury and the latest advances in cell therapy. Chapters in part one explore the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure, the mechanisms responsible for adverse cardiac matrix remodeling, and potential interventions to restore ventricular function. Part two highlights new approaches to cell therapy for cardiac regeneration, and includes chapters covering alternative routes of cell delivery, monitoring cell engraftment, and the feasibility of using allogeneic stem cells to restore cardiac function. Chapters in part three move on to highlight novel stem cells for cardiac repair, including human embryonic stem cells and human pluripotent stem cells, and detail their current status and future potential for cardiac therapy. Finally, part four explores gene therapy, and includes ultrasound-targeted or direct gene delivery as well as cell-based gene therapy for cardiac regeneration. Cardiac Regeneration and Repair, Volume One is complemented by a second volume covering biomaterials and tissue engineering. Together, the two volumes of Cardiac Regeneration and Repair provide a comprehensive resource for clinicians, scientists, or academicians fascinated with cardiac regeneration, including those interested in cell therapy, tissue engineering, or biomaterials. - Explores the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure, the mechanisms responsible for adverse cardiac matrix remodeling, and potential interventions to restore ventricular function - Highlights new approaches to cell therapy for cardiac regeneration and includes chapters covering alternative routes of cell delivery, monitoring cell engraftment, and the feasibility of using allogeneic stem cells to restore cardiac function - Explores gene therapy and includes ultrasound-targeted or direct gene delivery as well as cell-based gene therapy for cardiac regeneration

The Research Topic is organized in the framework of the project BIORECAR (grant number: 772168; http://www.biorecar.polito.it/index.html)

This Volume of the series Cardiac and Vascular Biology offers a comprehensive and exciting, state-of-the-art work on the current options and potentials of cardiac regeneration and repair. Several techniques and approaches have been developed for heart failure repair: direct injection of cells, programming of scar tissue into functional myocardium, and tissue-engineered heart muscle support. The book introduces the rationale for these different approaches in cell-based heart regeneration and discusses the most important considerations for clinical translation. Expert authors discuss when, why, and how heart muscle can be salvaged. The book represents a valuable resource for stem cell researchers, cardiologists, bioengineers, and biomedical scientists studying cardiac function and regeneration.

This book is the definitive reference on two of the most exciting areas of cardiovascular research – myocardial regeneration and stem cell therapy – for the treatment of disease. Edited by pioneers in the area, with contributions from every major investigator worldwide, it covers: The biology of stem cells The actions of stem cells from the bone marrow, the heart, and embryos on the normal restorative and repair functions of the heart and blood vessels How stem cells could contribute to myocardial recovery in the face of injury and aging How adjuvant therapy with growth factors might enhance stem cell activity in regeneration and repair Clinical applications and clinical experiences This fully referenced publication presents the current state of knowledge in both basic science and clinical practice, and is an essential reference for scientists, students, and clinicians.

This book offers readers a comprehensive biomaterials-based approach to achieving clinically successful, functionally integrated vasculogenesis and myogenesis in the heart. Coverage is multidisciplinary, including the role of extracellular matrices in cardiac development, whole-heart tissue engineering, imaging the mechanisms and effects of biomaterial-based cardiac regeneration, and autologous bioengineered heart valves. Bringing current knowledge together into a single volume, this book provides a compendium to students and new researchers in the field and constitutes a platform to allow for future developments and collaborative approaches in biomaterials-based regenerative medicine, even beyond cardiac applications.

This highly illustrated textbook has been prepared by the Working Group on Development, Anatomy and Pathology of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The ESC Textbook of Cardiovascular Development is the authority on cardiovascular development from a perspective of both basic scientists and clinicians. The embryonic origin of congenital heart diseases and their pathology has been analysed in depth. Modern concepts pivotal to the understanding of cardiovascular morphogenesis, including those still subject to controversy, have been highlighted and the content covers the ESC Core Curriculum. The textbook will appeal to researchers and clinicians from a wide spectrum of disciplines including molecular and developmental biologists working on mechanisms of heart development in a range of model organisms as well as pathologists, morphologists, geneticists, and cardiologists.

This Research Topic celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first heart transplant performed in December of 1967 in Cape Town, South Africa. Cardiovascular researchers met in South Africa in December 2017 to commemorate this event, presenting an opportune time to reflect on the achievements of applied cardiovascular research and highlight forthcoming technology developments that will shape the future of cardiovascular medicine. The clinical breakthrough in 1967 offered hope to many patients suffering with cardiac complications, and these life-saving surgeries continue to have a tremendous impact. Tissue shortages, surgical risks, and complications due to improper host-transplant tissue interactions, however, limit the utility of heart transplants to the most severe cases of cardiac morbidity. Recent advances have yielded mechanistic insight into the factors that control cardiovascular tissue maintenance and remodeling. The field of regenerative medicine seeks to control these factors to promote in situ tissue regeneration or engineered tissue replacement. These exciting new technologies could lead to a renaissance in the treatment of many cardiovascular diseases, just as the realization of heart transplantation 50 years ago. In this Research Topic, researchers and clinicians from regenerative medicine and applied cardiovascular biology provide literature reviews and original manuscripts to demonstrate the trajectory of cardiovascular medicine. The contributions vertically integrate advances by clinicians, engineers, and basic scientists, all researching similar topics from different angles and with complementary perspectives. Taken together, these contributions demonstrate the process of applied cardiovascular research from basic science discoveries to implementation in clinical practice.