Molecular Mechanisms of Cardiac Repair and Regeneration

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cells of the Cardiovascular System".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 June 2026 | Viewed by 341

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Molecular Cardiology and Angiogenesis Laboratory, Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
Interests: cardiac repair and regeneration of aging and diabetic hearts

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue of Cells focusing on "Molecular Mechanisms of Cardiac Repair and Regeneration". The adult mammalian heart has a limited capacity for self-renewal, and injury often leads to irreversible fibrotic scarring and heart failure. Understanding the intrinsic molecular pathways that govern cardiomyocyte proliferation, immune cell signaling, and extracellular matrix remodeling is, therefore, a fundamental and highly significant area of research in cardiovascular science.

This Special Issue aims to collate high-quality research and review articles that dissect the intricate signaling networks and cellular crosstalk underlying the heart's response to injury. By focusing on molecular drivers—from epigenetic regulators to key paracrine and intracellular pathways—this collection will provide a deeper understanding of the barriers to and potential for cardiac regeneration, aligning perfectly with the journal's scope of cell biology and molecular mechanisms in human health and disease.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and comprehensive reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Therapeutic strategies for cardiomyocyte cell cycle activation and proliferation;
  • Immune regulation and the role of immune cells in cardiac repair and regeneration;
  • Stem cell-based therapies and the functional roles of extracellular vesicles;
  • Key signaling pathways governing cardiac injury, repair, and regeneration;
  • Epigenetic, transcriptional, and metabolic control mechanisms;
  • Mechanisms of cardiac fibrosis and its crosstalk with regenerative processes;
  • Mitochondrial dynamics, metabolic reprogramming, and oxidative stress responses;
  • Soluble mediators (e.g., cytokines and growth factors) and intercellular communication networks;
  • Development and optimization of experimental models (e.g., animal models, organoids, and bioengineered platforms);
  • Discovery and validation of novel biomarkers for repair and regenerative outcomes.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Mahesh Thirunavukkarasu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cardiac repair and regeneration
  • cardiomyocyte
  • cardiac fibrosis
  • signaling pathways
  • immune regulation
  • extracellular vesicles
  • stem cell therapies
  • epigenetics
  • biomarkers

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

34 pages, 1713 KB  
Review
Extracellular Vesicles as Biological Templates for Next-Generation Drug-Coated Cardiovascular Devices: Cellular Mechanisms of Vascular Healing, Inflammation, and Restenosis
by Rasit Dinc and Nurittin Ardic
Cells 2026, 15(2), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells15020121 - 9 Jan 2026
Viewed by 163
Abstract
While drug-eluting cardiovascular devices, including drug-eluting stents and drug-coated balloons, have significantly reduced restenosis rates, they remain limited by delayed vascular healing, chronic inflammation, and late adverse events. These limitations reflect a fundamental mismatch between current device pharmacology, which relies on nonselective antiproliferative [...] Read more.
While drug-eluting cardiovascular devices, including drug-eluting stents and drug-coated balloons, have significantly reduced restenosis rates, they remain limited by delayed vascular healing, chronic inflammation, and late adverse events. These limitations reflect a fundamental mismatch between current device pharmacology, which relies on nonselective antiproliferative drugs, and the highly coordinated, cell-specific programs that orchestrate vascular repair. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), nanometer-scale membrane-bound particles secreted by virtually all cell types, provide a biologically evolved platform for intercellular communication and cargo delivery. In the cardiovascular system, EVs regulate endothelial regeneration, smooth muscle cell phenotype, extracellular matrix remodeling, and macrophage polarization through precisely orchestrated combinations of miRNA, proteins, and lipids. Here, we synthesize mechanistic insights into EV biogenesis, cargo selection, recruitment, and functional effects in vascular healing and inflammation and translate these into a formal framework for EV-inspired device engineering. We discuss how EV-based or EV-mimetic coatings can be designed to sense the local microenvironment, deliver encoded biological “instruction sets,” and function within ECM-mimetic scaffolds to couple local stent healing with systemic tissue repair. Finally, we outline the manufacturing, regulatory, and clinical trial issues that must be addressed for EV-inspired cardiovascular devices to transition from proof of concept to clinical reality. By shifting the focus from pharmacological suppression to biological regulation of healing, EV-based strategies offer a path to resolve the long-standing tradeoff between restenosis prevention and durable vascular healing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Cardiac Repair and Regeneration)
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