1Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha, India
2Department of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Biotechnology, Jeju National University, Jeju, South Korea
3Department of Animal Biotechnology, Bio-Organ Research Center, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea
*Corresponding Author: MK Gupta; E-mail: guptam@nitrkl.ac.in
Online published on 2 July, 2013.
Statins are a group of secondary metabolites secreted by several microorganisms as a defense mechanism. They inhibit hydroxymethyl glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase enzyme in the cholesterol synthesis pathway and are an acceptable therapy for hyperlipidemia in human. More recently, however, statins have been shown to have multiple effects, called pleotropic effects, which are independent of their cholesterol-inhibiting action. In somatic and stem cells, statins influences the cellular proliferation, survival, differentiation, regeneration and repair which can be harnessed in ex vivo systems for cell expansion and/or differentiation of somatic and stem cells. Incorporation of statins in the biomaterials for scaffold production has improved the cell attachment and directed differentiation of stem cells into target cells to enhance the functionality of the tissue engineered construct. Thus, statins have generated a fresh impetus in its use in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and therapeutics. This review discusses the sources, mode of action and emerging roles of statins in tissue engineering and therapeutics.
Statins, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, stem cells
