Being overweight or obese increases the risk of the development of many diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. It has been known that the proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes are both related to the hyperplasia of adipose tissue. One of the interests in Dr. Liu’s laboratory is focused on the reduction of adipocyte differentiation in adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs).
Ischemic cardiac and cerebral vascular diseases continue to represent a significant and growing source of morbidity and mortality despite advances in traditional treatments. Recently, emerging therapeutic strategy for angiogenesis focuses on the transplantation of stem/progenitor cells. ASCs, which are easily acquired and have reduced surface histocompatibility antigens, have been demonstrated to be beneficial for the ischemic heart and limb likely due to a paracrine function rather than transdifferentiation. Besides secreted soluble growth factors, cell-released microvesicles/exosomes have been recently described as a new mechanism of intercellular communication. Microvesicles play an important role in cell biologic processes not only by specifically targeting recipient cells to deliver proteins, lipids and/or trigger downstream signaling events, but also by transferring genetic material, mRNA and microRNA. Another interest in Dong Liu’s laboratory is to unravel the mechanistic aspects of the proangiogenic effect of ASCs-released microvesicles in detail. These studies will expand our currently scant knowledge of the proangiogenic effects of stem cell-released microvesicles and set the basis for the use of microvesicles as a novel therapeutic approach for ischemic diseases.