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Updated: May 25, 2026
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Published on: June 10, 2016
Strategies for enhancing progenitor cell mobilization and function in diabetes
Mattia Albiero1, Gian P Fadini
1Department of Medicine, Division of Metabolic Diseases, University of Padova, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), Padova, Italy. mattia.albiero@gmail.com
Insights
Diabetic patients have defective bone marrow (BM) stem and progenitor cells, impairing cardiovascular repair. Strategies to enhance progenitor mobilization and function may improve outcomes and cell therapies.
Area of Science:
- Stem cell biology
- Cardiovascular research
- Diabetes complications
Background:
- Bone marrow (BM) harbors stem and progenitor cells crucial for hematopoiesis and cardiovascular homeostasis.
- Diabetic patients exhibit intrinsic defects in progenitor cell pools, leading to impaired mobilization and function.
- These BM progenitor defects are implicated in the pathophysiology of diabetic complications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review strategies for stimulating progenitor cell mobilization in diabetes.
- To discuss protocols for improving the function of bone marrow progenitors.
- To explore novel approaches for enhancing endogenous cardiovascular repair in diabetic patients.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies on bone marrow stem cells and diabetes.
- Analysis of mechanisms underlying progenitor cell dysfunction in diabetes.
- Evaluation of therapeutic strategies to enhance progenitor cell mobilization and function.
Main Results:
- Growing evidence supports the role of BM-derived progenitors in cardiovascular homeostasis.
- Diabetic conditions intrinsically impair progenitor cell number, mobilization, and function.
- Integrated approaches to enhance progenitor mobilization and function show promise for cardiovascular repair.
Conclusions:
- Defective BM progenitors contribute significantly to diabetic cardiovascular complications.
- Enhancing progenitor mobilization and function is a potential therapeutic avenue for cardiovascular repair.
- Optimizing progenitor cell number and function is beneficial for both endogenous repair and cell-based therapies.
Abstract:
Bone marrow (BM) holds a pool of stem and progenitor cells whose role is not limited to hematopoiesis. Indeed, growing evidences showed that BM-derived progenitors could contribute to various extents to cardiovascular homeostasis. Notably, diabetic patients experience an intrinsic defect of the progenitor pool, whereas some recent works point directly to an intrinsic defect of the BM, resulting in defective mobilization and impaired functions of progenitors. These defects could have important pathophysiological roles in the development of diabetic complications. An integrated approach, which enhances mobilization of progenitors and improves their functions, could represent a novel method to improve cardiovascular repair by endogenous progenitors. Furthermore, potential clinical trials of cell therapy would gain benefit from stratagems that enhance the number and functions of progenitors prior to transplantation. In this review we discuss the strategies to stimulate the mobilization of progenitors in diabetes and the protocols to improve their functions.
