Arianna Dellavalle

TL;DR: Data show that myogenic precursors, distinct from satellite cells, are associated with microvascular walls in the human skeletal muscle, may represent a correlate of embryonic 'mesoangioblasts' present after birth and may be a promising candidate for future cell-therapy protocols in patients.

TL;DR: The main properties of satellite cells and other myogenic progenitors are discussed as well as recent efforts to obtain myogenic cells from pluripotent stem cells for patient-tailored cell therapy.

TL;DR: It is shown that pericytes, resident in small vessels of skeletal muscle, contribute to its growth and regeneration during postnatal life and increases significantly during acute injury or in chronically regenerating dystrophic muscle.

TL;DR: It is shown that cells from the adult human cerebral cortex expressing pericyte hallmarks can be reprogrammed into neuronal cells by retrovirus-mediated coexpression of the transcription factors Sox2 and Mash1, raising the possibility of functional conversion of endogenous cells in theadult human brain to induced neuronal fates.

TL;DR: This unit provides detailed methods for isolation, culture, and characterization of mesoangioblasts, successfully used in cell transplantation protocols that have yielded a significant rescue of structure and function in skeletal muscle of dystrophic mice and dogs.