Neutrophils aid cellular therapeutics by enhancing glycoengineered stem cell recruitment and retention at sites of inflammation.

The efficacy of cell-based therapies relies on targeted payload delivery and enhanced cell retention. In vitro and in vivo studies suggest that the glycoengineering of mesenchymal and cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) may enhance such recruitment at sites of injury. We evaluated the role of blood cells in amplifying this recruitment.

Current challenges for the targeted delivery and molecular imaging of stem cells in animal models.

In contrast to conventional, molecular medicine that focuses on targeting specific pathways, stem cell therapy aims to perturb many related mechanisms in order to derive therapeutic benefit. This emerging modality is inherently complex due to the variety of cell types that can be used, delivery approaches that need to be optimized in order to target the cellular therapeutic to specific sites in vivo, and non-invasive imaging methods that are needed to monitor cell fate. This review highlights advancements in the field, with focus on recent publications that use preclinical animal models for cardiovascular stem cell therapy.

Cell surface glycoengineering improves selectin-mediated adhesion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs): Pilot validation in porcine ischemia-reperfusion model.

Promising results are emerging in clinical trials focused on stem cell therapy for cardiology applications. However, the low homing and engraftment of the injected cells to target tissue continues to be a problem. Cellular glycoengineering can address this limitation by enabling the targeting of stem cells to sites of vascular injury/inflammation.