Stem cells with inlay

Despite the fact that cardiac stem cell therapy is a promising method of treating patients with myocardial infarction, targeted delivery and retention of cells in the damaged area remains a difficult task.

In a pilot study on an animal model, scientists from North Carolina State University, working under the guidance of Associate Professor Ke Cheng, demonstrated that "decorating" cardiac stem cells with platelet vesicles can increase the ability of cells to move to the infarction zone and stay there, increasing the effectiveness of treatment.

According to Dr. Chen, platelets can independently move to the area of damage, stay there and, in some cases, even attract their own stem cells into it. However, they are a "double-edged sword", since when they get into damaged tissue, they can trigger coagulation processes, leading to the formation of life-threatening blood clots.

In search of an approach that allows using the beneficial properties of platelets without triggering the thrombosis process, Chen and his colleagues found that adhesion molecules localized on the surface (a group of glycoproteins) are responsible for the targeted movement and binding to tissues in the injury zone. They created platelet nanovesicles from these molecules, with which they "decorated" the surface of cardiac stem cells.

When a rat model of myocardial infarction was introduced, twice as many cardiac stem cells decorated with platelet vesicles were retained in the injury zone than intact stem cells. After further observation for 4 weeks, the cardiac function in the experimental group animals was 20% higher than in the control group rats.

A small pilot study on a pig model also demonstrated higher retention levels of stem cells coated with platelet vesicles. The authors have not conducted functional studies, but in the future they plan to assess the condition of animals

According to Dr. Chen, nanovesicles do not affect the functions of stem cells and do not have undesirable side effects. He hopes to conduct clinical studies of the method in the near future and eventually introduce it into clinical practice.

Article by Junnan Tang et al. Targeted repair of heart injury by stem cells fused with platelet nanovesicles is published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru According to North Carolina State University: 'Decorated' Stem Cells Could Offer Targeted Heart Repair.