Key to repairing broken hearts
11 Oct 2011 by Evoluted New Media
A protein which directs stem cells to become new heart muscle or blood vessel cells could hold the key to repairing a damaged human heart after a heart attack.
The protein – fibroblast growth factor or Fgf – controls which function the developing heart cells will take; new heart muscle or blood vessels. Researchers from the University of Oxford found that manipulating Fgf levels in zebrafish embryos could determine how much of each cell type was made.
“Our study shows how having the correct concentrations of Fgf in the developing zebrafish heart ensures that the different cell types form properly,” said Dr Filipa Simoes.
“Crucially, we were able to convert blood and blood vessel cells into heart muscles by flipping genetic switches controlled by Fgf. The important next step to this research will be to identify the relevant cells in the human heart and take this finding to the next level.”
Professor Roger Patient led the research project – which was published in Development – at the MRC Molecular haematology Unit. He believes that if researchers can manipulate the heart cells in fish embryos, they may be able to do the same in human hearts if the equivalent cells are identified.
Researchers propose these cells may represent cells which played an important role in evolution. Over millions of years they may have been responsible for an increase in the amount of cardiac muscle, enabling the heart to grow from two chambers in the zebrafish, to four in humans.
“The results significantly increase our understanding of the origin of stem cells found in the adult heart,” said Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, who co-funded the study.
“This provides important clues to researchers working towards the goal of mending broken hearts after heart attacks.”
