Scientists aim to use stem cells to mend broken hearts

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BRITISH SCIENTISTS have started working on a new research programme to use regenerative medicine to help mend broken hearts.
Broken heart is a condition, which is often caused by damage to the heart during a heart attack, that means the heart can no longer pump properly. It is one of the leading causes of disability, with some patients housebound and fighting for breath, making getting out of bed or eating a meal incredibly difficult.
The research programme is inspired by the regeneration that already occurs in nature as fish and amphibians. Zebrafish can regrow portions of their own hearts.
The scientists are looking at developing a pill, or an injection, that could stimulate the heart to heal itself. A pill to mend broken hearts could be a reality in as little as five years if enough support is given to early research, the British Heart Foundation said on Tuesday at the launch of a £50 million fundraising campaign for research.
The project involves stem cell research and developmental biology to work out how to repair or replace damaged heart muscle to begin to literally “mend broken hearts” in as little as 10 years time, the foundation said.
“We’ve made great strides in medical research to better diagnose and treat people with all kinds of heart problems. But the biggest issue that still eludes us is how to help people once their heart has been damaged by a heart attack,” the foundation’s medical director, Prof. Peter Weissberg, said.
“Scientifically, mending human hearts is an achievable goal and we really could make recovering from a heart attack as simple as getting over a broken leg,” he added.
Scientists in the United States reported in 2010 that they had been able to turn structural heart cells into beating cells by identifying genes that, in a developing embryo, turn an immature cell into a beating heart cell or cardiomyocyte.
One of the British teams, led by Professor Paul Riley of the Institute of Child Health at University College London (UCL) has already found a natural protein, called thymosin beta 4, that plays a role in developing heart tissue.
He said his researchers had already had some success in using this protein to “wake up” cells known as epicardial cells in mice with damaged hearts.
“We hope to find similar molecules or drug-like compounds that might be able to stimulate these cells further,” he told reporters at the briefing.