Skin Cells Rescue Damaged Heart

Damaged heart cells in patients with heart failure can now be replaced with a skin cell. The secret is in reprogramming skin cells by using stem cells.

The study was conducted by experts from cardiology and physiology Sohnis Research Laboratory Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Tissue engineering that they have developed are able to overcome the problem of rejection and graft cells work perfectly on all skin cells.

"It is possible to use skin cells to treat patients with chronic heart failure are elderly," said one cardiologist, Lior Gepstein.

Caution: Researchers from Israel warn
that clinical trials could be a decade 
away, as more work in the laboratory
and major investment are needed..
(Picture from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)

Researchers tested the ability of their method on two patients with heart disease aged 51 and 61 years. The skin of the two patients are taken and then infiltrated three genes referred to as "transcription factor", namely Sox2, Klf4, and Oct4. Valproic acid molecules joined injected into the cell nucleus. Acid and gene mixing methods are called human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).

HiPSCs crucial thing is the exclusion of c-Myc gene, which has been often used to create stem cells. The gene is also known to trigger cancer.

"The presence of this gene could spur uncontrolled cell growth," Gepstein said, "is the main obstacle in doing programming the cell."

For comparison, researchers also developed heart muscle cells from young and old healthy volunteers. They conclude, the quality of cardiac muscle cells was not affected by age and health of skin cells reprogrammed.

Cardiac cell damage often occurs in patients with heart failure. A 2005 study by John JV McMurray from the Department of Cardiology, Western Infirmary, Glasgow, showed serious heart attack 2 percent of adults in developing countries. This risk increased to 6-10 per cent of the population aged over 65 years. *** [MEDICALXPRESS | ANTON WILLIAM | KORAN TEMPO 3889]

Note: This blog can be accessed via your smart phone.