Transplanted Stem Cells Repair Hearts
Posted on: Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 21:00 CST
Working with heart attack-stricken mice, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists has shown embryonic stem cells can help heal heart tissue.
A research team led by UW-Madison stem cell researcher Timothy Kamp reports embryonic stem cells transplanted into mouse hearts damaged by experimentally induced heart attacks, morph into functional forms of the major types of cells composing the healthy heart.
The scientists say if perfected, such therapy could provide a practical, less-invasive alternative to current therapies such as surgery and improve the quality of life for many patients.
Typically, when heart muscle dies as the result of heart attack, it is gone for good, said Kamp, a professor of medicine and physiology.
But in the experiments when stem cells were introduced directly into tissue damaged by a heart attack, three critical types of cells formed: cardiomyocytes or heart muscle; vascular smooth muscle, and endothelial cells.
Kamp said although the procedure did not completely repair the hearts, it was encouraging.
The research will be published in the January issue of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.
Source: United Press International
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