Stem cells could help a damaged heart fix itself?

Scientists says the discovery of cardionogen could pave the way to new treatment for heart disease.

A damaged heart could someday fix itself,say scientists who claim to have discovered a way to transform ordinary tissue into beating muscle cells.

An international team,led by Fudan University in China,says it has actually unearthed a family of molecules that can transform stem cells into beating heart muscle cells — this revolutionary treatment works by coaxing stem cells to develop into cardiac cells.

The scientists believe the discovery of cardionogen could pave the way to new treatment for heart disease.

Story continues below this ad

Dr Tao Zhong,who led the team,was quoted by the ‘Daily Mail’ as saying,”Despite advances in medicine,management of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and heart failure remains a major challenge.

“Developing therapies that can stimulate heart muscle regeneration in areas of infarction would have enormous medical impact.”

In their research,the scientists tested the molecules on zebrafish,whose transparent embryos allow scientists to see cells during development. They found the treatment enlarged the zebrafish heart by stimulating production of new cardiac muscle cells from stem cells. The same thing happened in mice.

The next step is to test cardionogen on human cells,said Dr Zhong,whose findings have been published in the ‘Journal of Chemistry & Biology’.

📣 For more lifestyle news, click here to join our WhatsApp Channel and also follow us on Instagram