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Researchers turn brain cells into heart cells
Sunday July 10, 2011 08:12:34 PM,
IANS
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Washington: Researchers have changed a star-shaped brain cell and a skin cell
into a heart cell -- offering the possibility of cell-based
therapy for cardiovascular diseases.
Heart cells are one of the most sought-after cells in regenerative
medicine because they could potentially repair injured hearts by
replacing lost tissue.
Researchers of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
showed the direct conversion of a non-heart cell type into a heart
cell by RNA transfer.
The signature of a cell is defined by molecules called messenger
RNAs (mRNAs) -- the chemical blueprint for making a protein.
Investigators changed an astrocyte (a star-shaped brain cell) and
a fibroblast (a skin cell) into a heart cell, using mRNAs, reports
the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study conducted by James Eberwine, professor of pharmacology,
Tae Kyung Kim, post-doctoral fellow, and colleagues offers the
possibility for cell-based therapy for cardiovascular diseases,
according to a Pennsylvania statement.
"What's new about this approach for heart-cell generation is that
we directly converted one cell type to another using RNA, without
an intermediate step," Eberwine explained.
The scientists put an excess of heart cell mRNAs into either
astrocytes or fibroblasts using lipid-mediated transfection, and
the host cell does the rest. Transfection involves opening pores
or "holes" in the cell membrane, to allow the uptake of material.
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