Dr. Cimato is studying new therapies to promote regeneration of heart muscle from bone marrow-derived stem cells. Current projects are focused on the use of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) to promote mobilization of bone marrow-derived stem cells into the blood stream and into the heart muscle. In animals with chronic myocardial ischemia and regional myocardial dysfunction, therapy with statins promotes mobilization of bone marrow derived cells, increases the number of dividing cardiac myocytes in the heart, and improves regional myocardial dysfunction. Translation of these findings to humans is currently underway to determine if statin therapy mobilizes bone marrow derived cells, if there are differential effects statin medications, and if cardiovascular disease risk factors or severe heart failure impair the mobilization or myocardial regenerating function of bone marrow- derived stem cells.
Cimato T, Beers J, Ding S, Ma M, McCoy JP, Boehm M, Nabel EG. Neuropilin-1 identifies endothelial precursors in human and murine embryonic stem cells before CD34 expression. Circulation. 2009 Apr 28;119(16):2170-8.
Suzuki G, Iyer V, Cimato T, Canty JM Jr. Pravastatin improves function in hibernating myocardium by mobilizing CD133+ and cKit+ bone marrow progenitor cells and promoting myocytes to reenter the growth phase of the cardiac cell cycle. Circ Res. 2009 Jan 30;104(2):255-64, 10p following 264.