stem cells, highly undifferentiated, can be isolated from the hearts of patients. Through complex procedures, these same cells can be transformed into specific cells of the heart muscle, and can then replace damaged areas of the body as for example following stroke.
The disorders of the heart muscle and circulatory system are now the leading cause of death in industrialized countries . In particular, ischemic heart disease and stroke contribute approximately one quarter of all deaths that occur annually.
In Europe more than 1 million people die each year from heart attack.
STEM CELLS The stem cell is a highly undifferentiated cells, with distinct replicative capacity, the potential to differentiate into any cell type. This is called pluripotent cell .
the earliest stages of embryonic development of mammals, all cells are virtually identical. In fact, each cell forming the embryo can develop into any cell line, typical of a tissue and then forming the body of the apparatus in its entirety.
Spend the early stages of embryogenesis, however, the cells specialize , going only to express specific molecules on the membrane. This process of functional differentiation directs the cells to a particular tissue and organ.
This process of development in mammals is one way. Under normal conditions, in fact, it never occurs that a specialized cell can de-differentiate toward its precursor, the most versatile.
is now known as, within each organ there are cells, few in number, that lines represent the progenitor with the capacity of partial pluripotency.
STEM CELLS IN HEART
With regard to the most innovative approaches for the treatment of heart disease, several studies have used stem cells isolated from bone marrow. Overall, the results, although positive in terms of safety of treatment, were not satisfactory due to the difficulty of inducing one of the peculiarities of the heart cell (cardiomyocyte), namely, its ability to contract in a rhythmic way. This ultimately damages the ability of the heart to pump blood through the circulatory system of the organism.
As part of research projects funded by the European Union (EU FP7), there is a line called CardioCell dedicated specifically to the development of new therapeutic strategies to repair damaged heart tissue.
Following a heart attack in fact, some cells undergo cardiac death. These are not replaced by new muscle cells but by fibrous scar tissue. Basic research and preclinical is investing so many resources to identify safe and effective techniques that enable transplanted heart muscle cells into the damaged tissue.
In this context, a group of researchers at Imperial College London is testing a new technique to identify and isolate , straight from the heart of patients, cardiac stem cells , which are then able to differentiate into cells cardiomiocitiche.
The salient features of real English are three: 1) the isolated cells are truly undifferentiated stem cells that is, 2) the cells are able to activate the correct molecular mechanisms to differentiate into cardiomyocytes, and 3) test of their basic stem cell is given that it does not produce the cardiac myosin, a protein typical of heart muscle cells become differentiated.
The technique, originally developed in mice, was first transferred successfully in humans. Further confirmation is required due to fact that different markers are used for identification of stem cells, the cell model of mouse to man.
The future goal is to optimize the technique to create a therapeutic procedure that involves the identification, collection and propagation in vitro of these cells for clinical application safe in case of damage to the muscle heart, which may be due to infarction.
( by Roberto Insolia - Press-Stampa.net )
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