Heart regenerates after infarction -- first trials with mice
December 11, 2008Up until today scientists assumed that the adult heart is unable to regenerate. Now, researchers and cardiologists from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany) have been able to show that this dogma no longer holds true. Dr. Laura Zelarayán and Assistant Professor Dr. Martin W. Bergmann were able to show that the body`s own heart muscle stem cells do generate new tissue and improve the pumping function of the heart considerably in an adult organism, when they suppress the activity of a gene regulator known as beta-catenin in the nucleus of the heart cells.
The gene regulator beta-catenin plays an important role in the development of the heart in embyros. Dr. Zelarayán and Dr. Bergmann could now show that beta-catenin is also important for the regeneration of the adult heart. They suppressed this factor in the nucleus of the heart cells in mice.
This way they activated heart precursor cells (stem cells) to turn on the regeneration of heart in adult mice. Four weeks after blocking beta-catenin, the pumping function of the heart of the animals had improved and the mice survived an infarction much better than those animals with a functioning beta-catenin gene. An important contribution to this project has been a transgenic mouse line generated by Professor Walter Birchmeier`s (MDC) laboratory.
Markers identified for Heart Muscle Stem Cells
In addition, the researchers have proven that heart muscle stem cells exist. So far, these cells had not been characterized clearly. They could demonstrate that two markers for heart cells – the structural protein alpha myosin heavy chain and the transcriptionfactor Tbx5 - are also expressed on heart precursor cells. "The evidence of cells with these markers in the adult heart demonstrates that stem cells dating back from heart development survive in niches in the adult heart", Dr. Bergmann explains.
The researchers in Germany collaborated with scientists in the Netherlands and Belgium. For this research, Dr. Bergmann was awarded the Wilhelm P. Wintersteinpreis this summer. The research group of Dr. Bergmann, a guest researcher at the MDC who recently became Deputy of the Department of Cardiology at the Asklepios Clinic St. Georg in Hamburg, belongs to the research group of Professor Rainer Dietz (MDC and Charité).
Publication: PNAS, online December 10, 2008, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0808393105
Source: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
-
New study makes key finding in stem cell self-renewal
Feb 06, 2012 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Researchers turn skin cells into neural precusors, bypassing stem-cell stage
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
4
-
Study finds mutations tied to aggressive childhood brain tumors
Jan 29, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
5 Questions: Rando on resetting the 'aging clock,' cell by cell
Jan 23, 2012 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
-
How poor maternal diet can increase risk of diabetes -- new mechanism discovered
Jan 06, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
Feb 08, 2012
-
Exercise and weight loss
Feb 08, 2012
-
Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
Feb 07, 2012
-
"The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Feb 04, 2012
-
Oncolytic adenovirus
Feb 04, 2012
-
Nutrition label stuffs and diets
Feb 02, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV
A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...
3 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor
(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.
4 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice
Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Feb 09, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (56) |
15
|
Green tea found to reduce disability in the elderly
(Medical Xpress) -- A lot of research has been done over the past several years looking into the health benefits of green tea. As a result, scientists have found that regular consumption of the beverage leads ...
Teen school drop-outs three times as likely to be on benefits in later life
Teen school drop-outs are almost three times as likely to be on benefits in later life as their peers who complete their schooling, indicates research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Feb 06, 2012 |
not rated yet |
13
Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy
For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...
New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside
There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact
Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.
A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell
Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...
Researchers find extensive RNA editing in human transcriptome
In a new study published online in Nature Biotechnology, researchers from BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the evidence of extensive RNA editing in a human cell line by analysis of RNA-seq data, demons ...