A new study is employing stem cells to repair heart attack damages.
The study is being conducted by a team of researchers, including Dr Chris Denning and Professor Stephen Hill, at the University of Nottingham.
As part of the study, researchers are developing a new system to monitor cardiomyocytes (cells of heart muscle tissue) in real time as they differentiate from stem cells into beating heart cells.
Heart Attack
Heart attack is the death of the heart muscle due to loss of blood supply. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Other names for heart attack include acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion.
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The system uses electrophysiology to record the electrical properties in a cell.
The researchers have already demonstrated that sufficient numbers of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes could be produced for detailed analysis and they plan to use new 'electrophysiology' systems to record changes in the cells when cultured.
![Animation of heart attack symptoms - Animation]( "Animation of heart attack symptoms - Animation")
Heart attack can cause symptoms such as Chest pain or discomfort, Shortness of breath and pain in neck, back, arm, or shoulder and is due to blockage of blood supply to the heart muscles
"This research will enable rapid development of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes as a tool for understanding the heart and its diseases," Dr Denning said.
"But before we can consider using stem cells to treat heart-attack patients there are many problems which will take many years to solve. We don't yet know how to deliver the cells to a patient's heart and prevent them being washed away so that they actually stay in the heart and both survive and function," he said.
The researchers will also monitor how the cells respond to different pharmacological agents in order to improve drug-screening processes and reduce the need for animal testing.
"A key part of the project is to monitor the effects of different drugs on the cells. At present, only limited information is available on how they respond to pharmacological or gene modulating agents," he added.
Source: ANI
LIN/B
Animation of heart attack symptoms - Animation
Heart attack can cause symptoms such as Chest pain or discomfort, Shortness of breath and pain in neck, back, arm, or shoulder and is due to blockage of blood supply to the heart muscles
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"This research will enable rapid development of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes as a tool for understanding the heart and its diseases," Dr Denning said.
"But before we can consider using stem cells to treat heart-attack patients there are many problems which will take many years to solve. We don't yet know how to deliver the cells to a patient's heart and prevent them being washed away so that they actually stay in the heart and both survive and function," he said.
The researchers will also monitor how the cells respond to different pharmacological agents in order to improve drug-screening processes and reduce the need for animal testing.
"A key part of the project is to monitor the effects of different drugs on the cells. At present, only limited information is available on how they respond to pharmacological or gene modulating agents," he added.
Source: ANI
LIN/B
A New Milestone in Stem Cell Research
patients who have recently suffered a major heart attack will be injected with selected stem cells from their own bone marrow during routine coronary bypass surgery.
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