One's own stem cells for heart repair

Your stem cells can repair your damaged heart

Washington: In a new study researchers at John Hopkins University have found that one's own stem cells derived from the heart can develop into new heart tissues, thus reversing the damage caused by a heart attack. In a related study, cells grown in the laboratory from these cardiospheres and injected into the hearts of mice following a lab-induced heart attack migrated straight to damaged tissue and regenerated, improving the organ's ability to pump blood throughout the animal's body. "The findings could potentially offer patients use of their own stem cells to repair heart tissue soon after a heart attack, or to regenerate weakened muscle resulting from heart failure, perhaps averting the need for heart transplants," says Eduardo Marban, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of both studies and professor and chief of cardiology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart Institute. "By using a patient's own adult stem cells rather than a donor's, there would be no risk of triggering an immune response that could cause rejection," he added.

In the first study, researchers took heart tissue samples from 10 patients age 20 to 80 who had recently received a heart transplant, and as part of their regular checkup to make sure the new heart was functioning properly. Researchers grew these tissues for two weeks, collecting any cardiac stem cells that started to migrate out, and then grew those loose cells with growth chemicals until they formed cardiospheres. "We don't know yet the purpose or advantages of this organization," says study lead investigator Rachel Ruckdeschel Smith, a biomedical engineering graduate student at Hopkins. " Cardiospheres represent an interesting model of early, test-tube heart cell development. They expressed common characteristics of other cells while retaining a unique appearance," she added.
-Nov 15, 2005