Gene therapy for the treatment of heart attack
Researchers from the Gladstone Institute, working under the guidance of Professor Deepak Srivastava, in experiments on mice managed to reprogram cells forming scar tissue at the site of myocardial infarction into a contracting myocardium.
Pathologies of the cardiovascular system are the leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide. One of the most common diseases of this class is myocardial infarction, after which the surviving patients form scars on the heart muscle, irreversibly disrupting the work of the heart.
Previously, researchers were able to transform scar tissue-forming cells into cardiomyocytes in the laboratory. And the results they obtained in their last work on an animal model exceeded all expectations.
In the region of the mouse heart damaged as a result of a simulated myocardial infarction, scientists injected a viral vector carrying a complex of three genes controlling the development of the embryo and known as GMT. Within a month, non-contracting cells, usually forming scar tissue, transformed into rhythmically contracting myocardial cells. During the three months of follow-up after the procedure, the contraction force of the transformed cells gradually increased, which ensured an increase in the volume of blood pumped by the heart.
The next stage of the researchers' work will be to test the developed technology on larger mammals, such as pigs. If positive results are obtained, it will already be possible to think about conducting clinical trials. The developers hope that their proposed approach will form the basis of an alternative to heart transplantation, the possibility of which is very limited by the shortage of donor organs.
They also plan to test the possibility of using the method of direct cell reprogramming for the treatment of other diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Article by Li Qian et al. In vivo reprogramming of murine cardiac fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes is published in the journal Nature.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Gladstone Institutes:
Gladstone Scientists Regenerate Damaged Hearts By Transforming Scar Tissue into Beating Heart Muscle.
20.04.2012