Scientists in Haifa Israel have successfully taken skin cells from heart failure patients and transformed them into beating heart muscle cells.
The testing is still in the early stages and it will be years before the technique can be applied directly to humans but it does hold promise, that someday patients may be able to repair their own hearts with their own cells.
The team of researchers led by Professor Lior Gepstein, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Physiology at the Sohnis Research Laboratory for Cardiac Electrophysiology and Regenerative Medicine, took skin cells from two men aged 51 and 61.
To reprogram the cells to behave like heart cells they added three genes and a molecule of valproic acid and inserted them into the cells’ nucleus.
When cells, usually from skin or blood, are reprogrammed in this way they are called "human induced pluripotent stem cells" (hiPSCs). The benefit of using a patient’s own created stem cells is that there would be reduced risk of rejection.
The researchers were then able to modify the hiPSCs using a virus to turn them into heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes). Then, they grew the cells into tissue and “within 24-48 hours the tissues were beating together. The tissue was behaving like a tiny microscopic cardiac tissue composed of approximately 1000 cells in each beating area," said Prof Gepstein. (1)
Finally, the new tissue was transplanted into healthy rat hearts and the grafted tissue began to establish connections with the cells of the rat hearts.
Currently, patients with heart failure must rely on medications, mechanical devices or wait for a transplant. The congestive heart failure death rate has increased by 35 percent in the past quarter of a center in the United States. It is the cause or main contributor to nearly 53,000 deaths according to the American Heart Association. (3)
"This is an interesting paper, but very early and it's really important for patients that the promise of such a technique is not over-sold," said John Martin a professor of cardiovascular medicine at University College London told Huffington post.
It still is hard to not be optimistic that this new technique may pave a way to reprogram cells needed anywhere in the body.
Professor Gepstein and his colleagues acknowledge that there are several obstacles to overcome. There are problems related to being able to scale up and modify the large number of cells that would be needed.
Transplantation strategies that reduce risk of cancer occurrence need to be developed. And, acquiring large industry funding will also be required.
The team will be continuing with their research using other animal models as well as investigating inherited cardiac disorders and drug development. It may be at least 10 years before they can go to clinical trials with this new discovery.
Sources:
1. Patients' Skin Cells Turned Into Heart Muscle Cells to Repair Their Damaged Hearts. Science Daily. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120522200627.htm
2. Skin Cells Turned Into Beating Heart Muscle. Huffington Post. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/skin-cells-heart-muscle-tissue-...
3. Heart Failure. US News Health. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
http://health.usnews.com/health-conditions/heart-health/congestive-heart...
Journal Reference:
Limor Zwi-Dantsis et al. Derivation and cardiomyocyte differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells from heart failure patients. European Heart Journal, May 22, 2012 DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehs096
Michele is an R.N. freelance writer with a special interest in woman’s healthcare and quality of care issues. Other articles by Michele are at www.helium.com/users/487540/show_articles
Edited by Jody Smith