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This book provides an update of recent advances in the basic and clinical applications of cell-based therapies for myocardial repair and regeneration in ischemic heart disease (IHD) and heart failure (HF). The first sections of the book illuminate basic aspects of stem cells such as definitions, isolation criteria and characterization of embryonic and adult stem cells, as well as pluripotent stem cells and tissue specific progenitor and stem cells. In the following section, the text examines the role of critical regulators of stem cell differentiation in myocardial regeneration, that include circadian rhythyms, microRNAs, epigenetics, microvescicles, and exosomes. The text concludes with a review of the use of stem/progenitor cells in cardiac regeneration and discuss current controversies, unresolved issues, challenges, and future directions. Stem Cells and Cardiac Regeneration is addressed to a wide audience consisting of cardiologists, clinicians, and research scientists, who will learn new concepts in cardiovascular regeneration and repair with special focus on molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential for cardiovascular regeneration.

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1 Chapter 1 Biology and Function of Stem Cells.-2 Embryonic Stem Cells for Cardiac Regeneration.-3 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Cardiac Regeneration.-4 Tissue Specific Progenitor/Stem Cells for Cardiac Regeneration.-5 Circadian Rhythms in Stem Cell Biology and Function.-6 MicroRNAs and stem cells: control pluripotency, reprogramming, and lineage commitment.-7 Epigenetic Regulation of Cardiac Regeneration.-8 Stem cell secretome and paracrine activity .-9 . Role of microvescicles and exosomes for intra- and intercardiac communication.-10 Delivery mode for cardiac stem cell therapy.-11 Stem cell therapies for cardiac regeneration: Current burden - future directions

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Rosalinda Madonna is Assistant Professor at Center of Excellence on Aging, G. d´Annunzio University in Chieti, Italy and Adjunct Assistant Professor in Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School in Houston, Texas. She received both her MD in Medicine in Surgery and PhD in Biotechnologies and Biosciences and Cardiology Specialization at G.D´Annunzio University. She worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Texas Medical School and then as a Research Scientist at Texas Heart Institute Center for Cardiovascular Biology and Atherosclerosis Research, both in Houston Texas. She also held the position of Research Scientist at the Institute of Molecular Cardiology, University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Author of over ninety papers and fifteen book chapters, she is an ex-officio nucleus member of the European Society of Cardiology Working Group in Cellular Biology of the Heart, and Councilor of the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Research (SIRC). Her research interests include atherosclerosis, stem cells, and regenerative medicine.

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