Researchers Nurture Heart Cells in Lab

A new study by a team of Canadian, UK and US scientists has taken medical science a step further by growing three types of human heart cells. Findings of the study have been published in the journal Nature.

The success achieved by the research team makes the possibility of creating functioning heart tissue for transplants in the laboratory that much more real. The researchers used cultures derived from embryonic stem cells to create the heart cells. To do this, they provided a cocktail of growth factors and other molecules responsible for development to the embryonic stem cell cultures.

An infusion of the right growth factors at the right time encouraged the embryonic cells to grow into immature versions of three different types of cardiac cells – cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells. Each of these cells is an important constituent of heart muscle.

The researchers then transplanted a mixture of these cells into the hearts of laboratory mice with induced heart disease. Within a few days, the researchers found significantly improved heart function in the rodents. Dr. Gordon Keller from the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto and one of the study authors said, “This development means that we can efficiently and accurately make different types of human heart cells for use in both basic and clinical research.”

“The immediate impact of this is significant as we now have an unlimited supply of these cells to study how they develop, how they function and how they respond to different drugs. In the future, these cells may also be very effective in developing new strategies for repairing damaged hearts, following a heart attack,” he said.

Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation said, “This research provides another promising indication that we are steadily getting closer to the day when stem cells will be used successfully to repair damaged hearts in patients.”

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