Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Stem cells are synonymous with the promise of tissue regeneration and the cure of many debilitating diseases. However, they may also be major players in disease progression. Investigating adult progenitors both in health and disease will significantly advance our understanding of the mechanisms of cardiovascular pathophysiology. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an incurable illness that affects the lives of many Canadians. In patients with cardiac or peripheral vascular diseases, transplantation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) is a proven method of improving blood flow and facilitating the natural repair processes of the body. Progenitor cells from the skin, called skin-derived precursors (SKP), can generate functional VSMC that integrate into blood vessels and function to remodel vascular networks. It remains to be determined whether SKP can be isolated from the elderly with CVD. If successfully isolated and differentiated, SKP may be an ideal cell therapy to treat conditions affecting the circulation. Alternatively, SKP-derived VSMC may retain some signatures of disease. Here, SKP can be used as a diagnostic tool or for the design of tailored treatments in personalized medicine. Novel physiological and genetic insights into disease progression may also be gained through investigation of disease specific VSMC. This would be of great value to the field of circulatory health as disease specific VSMC for research and drug screening are not currently available. As exemplified with cancer stem cells, adult progenitors can facilitate disease development. Progenitors in the vasculature may play a similar role in promoting atherosclerosis or vascular injury after angioplasty. Investigation of vascular progenitors both in health and disease will determine if these cells should be therapeutic targets. Information gained from this study may lead to drug-screening initiatives and ultimately to novel treatment strategies for vascular diseases.