Stem cells in heart attack: shining to others, I burn myself

In 2012, as part of a clinical study, the specialists of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center demonstrated that the introduction of specialized cardiac stem cells into the muscle tissue of the heart of patients who have suffered a heart attack helps to reduce the degree of scarring and restore healthy cardiac muscles.

The results of their recent work devoted to the study of the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon indicate that the introduction of stem cells stimulates the proliferation of existing cardiomyocytes and the attraction of stem cells to the injury zone, subsequently differentiating into mature cardiomyocytes. At the same time, the transplanted stem cells themselves die quite quickly.

The data obtained by the authors working under the guidance of Dr. Eduardo Marban in laboratory experiments on mice demonstrate that in a healthy heart, muscle cells proliferate at a very low rate. This is enough to replace cardiomyocytes that die as a result of natural aging. Infarction itself accelerates this process, and the introduction of stem cells provides additional powerful stimulation due to the activation of a number of genes.

The preliminary results of the clinical study are very promising, but Dr. Marban notes that the results obtained in animal experiments are only the first step towards improving the strategy aimed at regenerating healthy heart muscles after a heart attack.

Article by Konstantinos Malliaras et al. Cardiomyocyte proliferation and progenitor cell recruitment underlie therapeutic regeneration after myocardial infarction in the adult mouse heart is published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center:
Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute study: stem cells boost heart's natural repair mechanisms

31.01.2013