Custom-made heart cells
In December last year, Cellular Dynamics International (Wisconsin, USA) began to supply heart cells grown from the customer's own stem cells to those interested. These cells can be used for a variety of purposes: from testing the toxicity of drugs to studying the electrodynamics of healthy and pathologically altered heart cells.
To create the so-called "iCell cardiomyocytes", Cellular Dynamics International specialists isolate cells from the customer's blood or other tissue and, with the help of chemical stimuli, restore their pluripotent status, that is, the ability to transform into cells of various types.
This technique was developed at the University of Wisconsin in the laboratory of James Thompson, one of the co-founders of the company. In 2007, scientists published an article in the journal Science, which describes in detail the method of converting adult human cells into so–called induced pluripotent stem cells - iPSCs. (Japanese geneticist Shinya Yamanaka also transformed differentiated human cells into iPSCs and in 2007 published the results of his work in the journal Cell.)
Representatives of Cellular Dynamics International, Chief Executive Officer Robert Paley and Chief Commercial Representative Chris Kendrick-Parker presented their development at a Healthcare Conference held by JP Morgan financial company on January 11-14 in San Francisco. According to them, one of the main advantages of the cells offered by the company is the possibility of obtaining them at the request of the client and in the quantity required by them. The customer receives a test tube the size of the tip of the little finger, which contains 1.5-5 million different types of cells that make up the heart. When certain conditions are created, some of these cells begin to contract rhythmically (you can see how this happens in the video).
Initially, the company's specialists developed a cellular product to study the toxicity and effectiveness of experimental drugs. Possible applications of these cells also include their use to study differences in the response of representatives of different races and genetic subpopulations to drugs.
iCell-cardiomyocytes are also an excellent material for conducting fundamental studies of the functioning of heart cells, despite the rather high cost: one tube of cells costs the customer about $ 1,000. Cells isolated from cadaveric tissue are a little cheaper (about $ 800), but although the culture of such cardiomyocytes can be maintained in a viable state, it is not possible to make them shrink, which limits the possibilities of studying the electrodynamics of cells.
Experts believe that in combination with iCell genetic testing, cardiomyocytes will significantly increase the effectiveness of predicting dangerous adverse reactions to drugs. The toxicity of the drug can be tested directly on human cells that have DNA markers of predisposition to the negative effects of the drug under study.
Representatives of pharmaceutical companies highly appreciated the benefits provided by iCell cardiomyocytes. They note that the possibility of obtaining a large number of cells is of particular importance. This will facilitate the search for effective compounds among thousands of molecules tested by developers, and will also allow them to use cells from the same population at different stages of the drug development process, which often stretches for several years. In addition, the developers get the opportunity to test drugs on the cells of different patients, which will allow them to detect various adverse reactions.
iCell cardiomyocytes are genetically and immunologically compatible with the donor organism of the original cell population. This means that they, as well as other types of cells obtained from iPSCs, can eventually be used to repair damage to the heart and other organs.
Experts note that the appearance of cells offered by Cellular Dynamics International can cause a revolution in the development of drugs and biological science in general, but many of the possible directions of their application are a matter of the distant future.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of TechnologyReview: Made-to-Order Heart Cells25.01.2010