By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A groundbreaking new study has identified the crucial molecular signals needed to enable certain cells in the human heart to be able to repair the damage done by a heart attack.
The Australian is reporting that the study, conducted by a group of international researchers and published in the journal Nature, found that it can boost the formation of new heart muscle cells in mice with a small molecule that can encourage the regrowth of blood vessels. If the work can be replicated, scientists say it holds enormous promise for those whose hearts have been left permanently damaged by a heart attack.
“This groundbreaking study shows that adult hearts contain cells that, given the right stimulus, can mobilise and turn into new heart cells that might repair a damaged heart,” said British Heart Foundation associate medical director Jeremy Pearson. “The team have identified the crucial molecular signals needed to make this happen.”
The team of British, US and Chinese scientists was led by Paul Riley, with University College London’s Molecular Medicine Unit.
Professor Riley said the work promised huge potential. “I could envisage a patient known to be at risk of a heart attack – either because of family history or warning signs spotted by their GP – taking an oral tablet . . . which would prime their heart so that if they had a heart attack the damage could be repaired,” he told The Australian.
Stem cell scientist Nadia Rosenthal, head of the Mouse Biology Unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Rome and founding director of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Melbourne’s Monash University, said it was too early for celebration because similar studies have ultimately proved disappointing. But this latest work is solid, she said, and the team reputable.
“The search is now on to identify new small molecules, drugs, to mimic the factors used in this study which could stimulate replacement of damaged or destroyed heart muscle in patients,” she said.
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