Adult stem cells palliate tissue damage in cardiovascular diseases
This is stated in his thesis researcher Xabier López Aranguren, biologist and biochemist at the University of Navarra.
Xabier López Aranguren, a biologist and biochemist at the University of Navarra, has explored the use of adult stem cells to alleviate damage to tissues affected by cardiovascular diseases, one of the main causes of death in the Western world, in his doctoral thesis thesis . The results of his work were recently published in the journal Blood.
"In these ailments, tissue death occurs. It stops functioning because it does not receive enough oxygen and nutrients through the arteries," he explains. Thus, the study has shown "how adult stem cells can correct the damage because they increase the vascularization of these tissues thanks to their ability to differentiate (to have specific properties) into artery-forming cells".
Specifically, the scientist from CIMA and the University Clinic of the University of Navarra used a subject of adult stem cells called "multipotent" (MAPC) which, unlike others, "can grow for long periods of time and differentiate into a wide variety of tissues: from liver cells to neurons".
His research has shown that, under certain conditions, MAPCs "are capable of differentiating into endothelial cells, the main cells that form the body's blood vessels, and others with characteristics of the arteries," he notes. In this sense, he argues that MAPCs "may prove to be a useful stem cell source for treating cardiovascular diseases".
After defending his thesis doctoral thesis, Xabier López Aranguren will spend three years at the Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology of the University of Leuven (Belgium), where he will continue to study the therapeutic potential of MAPCs.