Scientists at the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute have developed a technique to regenerate damaged heart muscle cells in mice, offering potential treatments for congenital heart defects and heart attack damage. This was achieved by modifying heart cells to revert to a fetal-like state, which enables them to repair themselves by utilizing glucose more effectively.
Cardiomyocytes, the cells responsible for contracting the heart muscle, can regenerate in newborn mammals, but lose this ability with age, said senior author Paul Schumacker, PhD, Patrick M. Magoon Distinguished Professor in Neonatal Research at Lurie Children’s and Professor of Pediatrics, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Medicine at“At the time of birth, the cardiac muscle cells still can undergo mitotic cell division,” Dr. Schumacker said.
The findings suggest that causing increased glucose utilization can also restore cell division and growth in adult heart cells and may provide a new direction for treating damaged heart cells, Dr. Schumacker said. “If we could find a drug that would turn on this response in the same way the gene manipulation did, we could then withdraw the drug once the heart cells have grown,” Dr. Schumacker said. “In the case of children with HLHS, this may allow us to restore the normal thickness to the left ventricular wall. That would be lifesaving.”