Embryonic Heart Cells Prevent Arrhythmia
Posted on: Thursday, 6 December 2007, 15:00 CST
A U.S.-led study has found transplanting living embryonic heart cells into mice that have suffered heart attacks can prevent cardiac arrhythmias.
The researchers from Cornell University, the University of Bonn in Germany and the University of Pittsburgh found such transplantation made the mice resistant to cardiac arrhythmias, thereby avoiding one of the most dangerous and fatal consequences of heart attacks.
The scientists discovered a protein called connexin43, expressed by the transplanted embryonic heart cells, improved electrical connections with other heart cells.
The researchers showed the improved connections helped activate the transplanted cells deep within the damaged section of the heart tissue, thereby reversing the risk of developing ventricular arrhythmias after a heart attack, which is the most common cause of sudden death in the Western world.
These results have important implications for therapy, although they must be verified in the context of naturally occurring heart damage, said Michael Kotlikoff, dean of Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine. One can envision using a patient's own cells by deriving heart cells from stem cells to improve heart function and decrease arrhythmia risk.
The study is reported in the journal Nature.
Source: United Press International
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