US researchers have described a novel technique that not only regenerates cardiac muscle cells in mice after a heart attack but also repairs them.
Robert Schwartz, the study’s lead author, stated, “No one has been able to accomplish this to this level and we think it might become a feasible therapy for humans.”
Professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houston College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen, Schwartz has this distinction.
He was accompanied by Siyu Xiao, a recent Ph.D. alumnus, and Dinakar Iyer, an associate professor of biology and biochemistry and research.
YAP5SA and Stemin
In order to boost the replication of cardiomyocytes, or heart muscle cells, separated from mice hearts, the researchers showed that two mutant transcription factors, Stemin and YAP5SA, cooperate.
On tissue culture dishes, several in vitro studies were carried out.
In order for the cardiomyocyte to regenerate and multiply, Xiao explained, “what we are attempting to accomplish is dedifferentiate the cardiomyocyte into a more stem cell-like condition.”
Cardiomyocytes’ stem cell-like characteristics are activated by stemming.
Iyer, who characterized the transcription factor as a “game changer,” identified Stemin’s significant contribution to their investigations.
In the meantime, YAP5SA promotes organ development, which prompts the myocytes to multiply even more.
Stunning outcomes
The infarcted adult mouse model for the study was created in collaboration with Emilio Lucero, a graduate student at the UH College of Pharmacy, and pharmacology professor Bradley McConnell.
The results were “shocking” when both transcription factors were put into infarcted adult mouse hearts, according to Schwartz.
Hearts were rebuilt to almost normal cardiac pumping performance with no scarring over the course of the next month, according to the laboratory’s findings.
Synthetic mRNA has an additional advantage over viral delivery in that it vanishes in a matter of days, according to Xiao.
Because they cannot be readily stopped, gene treatments that are delivered to cells using viral vectors create a number of biosafety issues. On the other hand, mRNA-based delivery soon degrades and vanishes.
A sizable study
Xiao concentrated on this subject during her Ph.D. studies at UH, while Schwartz and Iyer worked on it for a number of years. Fall 2020 will mark her graduation.
I feel fortunate and privileged to have worked on this, added Xiao. Given the clever use of mRNA to transport Stemin and YAP5SA, “This is a big research in heart regeneration.”
The findings are particularly significant because adult cardiac muscle cells can recover in fewer than 1% of cases.
She said that most people still retained the majority of their cardiomyocytes when they passed away.
The heart’s capacity to contract may be lost after a cardiac attack when heart muscle cells die.
