ABERDEEN, Scotland, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Some organs, such as the liver, can regenerate if they are damaged. The heart, however, loses that ability shortly after birth, posing a problem for the treatment of conditions that degrade it.
Researchers at the University of Aberdeen found evidence of molecular signaling that cause stem cells to become heart muscle cells, which they say may help lead to methods of motivating the production of new heart cells.
"During embryonic life we can make heart muscle cells but if an adult suffers from heart infarction in later life the heart muscle can't regenerate sufficiently to repair itself," Silvia Mazzotta, a doctoral student at the University of Aberdeen, said in a press release. "The hope is that if we understand the molecular mechanisms surrounding how this works we may in the future contribute to new therapeutic strategies to encourage heart regeneration."
Tissues and organs develop in embryos based on cells communicating with each other and self-organizing. This communication, called cell-to-cell signaling, is controlled by signaling molecules, with a group called Wnt signals having a particularly important role.
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By monitoring Wnt signaling in activity in cultured embryonic stem cells, the researchers found Wnt signals naturally regulate heart muscle differentiation, according to a new study, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.
The next step, researchers say, will be to find ways of turning the discovery into a therapeutic method of motivating heart muscle regeneration.
"What this research shows is that flicking the switch to turn Wnt signalling on or off is not just an experimental trick, but recapitulates normal heart muscle cell formation," said Stefan Hoppler, a professor at the University of Aberdeen. "This is potentially extremely important considering the huge impact that cardiovascular disease has on modern society."
