Cells in Cardiovascular Disease: Using Diversity to Confront Adversity

Abstract

The present Special Issue on “Cells in Cardiovascular Disease” wants to offer a general overview of current cardiovascular research and illustrate how advances in the molecular characterization at the cellular level are providing unique insights into pathologies of the circulatory system. The mechanisms of response to injury and the adaptation of cells to disease processes are now being characterized in minute detail, and new paths of intervention are provided by research on the basic processes of cellular response to damage. Cardiovascular research has witnessed how the study of the cell types that make up the heart, vessels, and blood has revealed their plasticity, new cellular interactions and interconnections, as well as surprising cellular functions in certain pathophysiological settings. In the present volume, we have edited more than 25 contributions, including experimental research articles and reviews covering a broad array of research topics in cardiovascular disease (CVD). Due to the wide field covered, the articles have varied interests, ranging from molecular characterizations of pathways involved in disease to clinical observations, and from acute diseases to mechanisms of chronic remodeling of the heart and the vasculature.