Heart muscle  cells derived from skin cells

When someone has a heart attack, getting treatment quickly can mean the difference between life and death. Every minute delay in getting help means more heart cells die, and that can have profound consequences. One study found that heart attack patients who underwent surgery to re-open blocked arteries within 60 minutes of arriving in the emergency room had a six times greater survival rate than people who had to wait more than 90 minutes for the same treatment.

Clearly a quick intervention can be life-saving, which means an approach that uses a patient’s own stem cells to treat a heart attack won’t work. It simply takes too long to harvest the healthy heart cells, grow them in the lab, and re-inject them into the patient. By then the damage is done.

Now a new study shows that an off-the-shelf approach, using donor stem cells, might be the most effective way to go. Scientists at Shinshu University in Japan, used heart muscle stem cells from one monkey, to repair the damaged hearts of five other monkeys.

In the study, published in the journal Nature, the researchers took skin cells from a macaque monkey, turned those cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and then turned those cells into cardiomyocytes or heart muscle cells. They then transplanted those cardiomyocytes into five other monkeys who had experienced an induced heart attack.

After 3 months the transplanted monkeys showed no signs of rejection and their hearts showed improved ability to contract, meaning they were pumping blood around the body more powerfully and efficiently than before they got the cardiomyocytes.

It’s an encouraging sign but it comes with a few caveats. One is that the monkeys used were all chosen to be as close a genetic match to the donor monkey as possible. This reduced the risk that the animals would reject the transplanted cells. But when it comes to treating people, it may not be feasible to have a wide selection of heart stem cell therapies on hand at every emergency room to make sure they are a good genetic match to the patient.

The second caveat is that all the transplanted monkeys experienced an increase in arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats. However, Yuji Shiba, one of the researchers, told the website ResearchGate that he didn’t think this was a serious issue:

“Ventricular arrhythmia was induced by the transplantation, typically within the first four weeks. However, this post-transplant arrhythmia seems to be transient and non-lethal. All five recipients of [the stem cells] survived without any abnormal behaviour for 12 weeks, even during the arrhythmia. So I think we can manage this side effect in clinic.”

Even with the caveats, this study demonstrates the potential for a donor-based stem cell therapy to treat heart attacks. This supports an approach already being tested by Capricor in a CIRM-funded clinical trial. In this trial the company is using donor cells, derived from heart stem cells, to treat patients who developed heart failure after a heart attack. In early studies the cells appear to reduce scar tissue on the heart, promote blood vessel growth and improve heart function.

The study from Japan shows the possibilities of using a ready-made stem cell approach to helping repair damage caused by a heart attacks. We’re hoping Capricor will take it from a possibility, and turn it into a reality.

If you would like to read some recent blog posts about Capricor go here and here.