Pacemaker from patient cells
The heart cells were reprogrammed into bioelectric stimulators
The results of the work of researchers from the Cardiology Institute of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles) will be published in the January issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology (Kapoor et al., Direct conversion of quiet cardiomyocytes to pacemaker cells by expression of Tbx18).
The cells that generate electrical impulses and determine the heart rate (P-cells) are located in one of the sections of the right atrium – the sinus-atrial node.
On the diagram of the conducting system of the heart from Wikipedia, it is indicated by the number 1, and 2 is another pacemaker, the atrioventricular node, which plays a much smaller role in the autonomous management of heart rhythm – VM.
Of the more than five billion heart cells, only ten thousand are P-cells, the incorrect operation of which leads to heartbeat disorders. Often, patients with such symptoms are implanted with pacemakers.
The lead author of the study, Hee Cheol Cho, and his colleagues developed a technique that allows reprogramming ordinary cardiomyocytes into P cells using the Tbx18 gene. This gene affects the specification and development of sinus-atrial node cells in the embryo.
Experiments on the creation of P cells from cardiomyocytes were successfully carried out in laboratory conditions, and then - on guinea pigs.
The reprogrammed cells in their properties and structure turned out to be close to natural P-cells and, like them, had the ability to generate electrical impulses.
The authors of the work have been working for ten years to create a technology that allows to obtain P-cells from cardiomyocytes. According to them, earlier all attempts to create pacemaker cells in both their group and other scientists did not end too successfully - all reprogrammed cells remained similar in structure to ordinary cardiomyocytes.
Scientists hope that in the future the results obtained will be confirmed during human trials. If the effectiveness and safety of this technique is proven, then as a treatment, instead of implanting artificial pacemakers, patients can be transplanted with their own reprogrammed cells. As an alternative therapy option, the researchers consider injecting the Tbx18 gene into the patient's heart muscle.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru19.12.2012