REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Stem Cell Research
This article is part of the Research TopicNovel Insights into Cellular Mechanisms and Therapies for Tissue RegenerationView all 8 articles
Research progress of stem cells in the treatment of atherosclerosis
Provisionally accepted
- Jinhua Municipal Central Hospital, Jinhua, China
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Atherosclerosis (AS) is the primary pathological basis for the disability rate and mortality rate of global cardiovascular diseases. Its core characteristics are abnormal deposition of blood vessel wall lipids, chronic inflammatory activation and vascular structural remodeling, which ultimately lead to acute cardiovascular and cerebral vascular events such as coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction. Existing treatment methods, such as statins and interventional interventions, can only delay disease progression and cannot reverse the pathological damage to blood vessels that has already formed. Stem cells provide a novel strategy for targeted therapy of AS due to their multi-directional differentiation potential, immune regulatory ability, and tissue repair properties. This review systematically reviews the research progress of stem cells in the treatment of AS in recent years, focusing on the mechanism of the main cell types such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), including regulating lipid metabolism, inhibiting inflammatory reaction, repairing vascular endothelium and stabilizing atherosclerotic plaque; Summarized key evidence from animal experiments and clinical trials in 2023-2025, analyzed core challenges such as low homing efficiency, short survival time, and immune rejection risk of stem cells; And propose optimization strategies such as gene modification, biomaterial carriers, and combination therapy. Finally, the application prospects of single-cell sequencing, organoid models, and precision delivery systems in promoting the clinical translation of stem cells were discussed, with specific implementation paths supplemented: single-cell sequencing can analyze the heterogeneity of stem cells in the AS lesion microenvironment (e.g., subtype differentiation differences of MSCs under hypoxic conditions) to screen high-activity stem cell subpopulations; vascular organoids constructed from patient-derived iPSCs can simulate the in vivo lipid deposition-inflammatory microenvironment to evaluate stem cell therapeutic effects; precision delivery systems can enhance lesion targeting via ligand modification (e.g., anti-VCAM-1 antibody-modified PLGA carriers), providing theoretical basis and research directions for disease modification therapy of AS.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Stem Cell Therapy, mesenchymal stem cells Induced, Pluripotent Stem Cells, Vascular repair, Plaque stabilization
Received: 10 Oct 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shi, Ren and Tong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hongjie Tong
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