Emerging Concepts in Paracrine Mechanisms in Regenerative Cardiovascular Medicine and Biology

In the past decade, substantial evidence supports the paradigm that stem cells exert their reparative and regenerative effects, in large part, through the release of biologically active molecules acting in a paracrine fashion on resident cells. The data suggest the existence of a tissue microenvironment where stem cell factors influence cell survival, inflammation, angiogenesis, repair, and regeneration in a temporal and spatial manner.