By Shreya Pal
Heart attacks are the 2nd leading cause of death in Canada. Every hour, about 12 Canadian adults aged 20 and over with diagnosed heart disease die. Keeping these devastating statistics in mind, medical researchers and doctors are always on the hunt for better treatments. Fortunately, Johns Hopkins researchers discovered that one protein has the power to turn cardiac stem cells into blood vessels or muscular tissue, which is a huge breakthrough as it may lead to better ways to treat cardiac arrests.
After every heart attack, the heart tissue itself doesn’t heal completely and is left with scars. These scars weaken the heart, making it prone to more severe heart attacks. Now for reasons not completely understood yet, stem cells (immature cells) assist in the repair process by transforming into the cells that make up the healthy heart tissue. Essentially, the use of stem cells could curb the formation of unhealthy scars.
The protein p190RhoGAP can effectively shape the development of future stem cells. This discovery is remarkable as finding a central regulator is like finding a pot of gold. Medical researchers can now alter the levels of this protein according to their needs, thus creating a wide variety of stem cells. There had been an initial success in reducing scar tissue in heart attack patients after harvesting some of the patient’s own cardiac stem cells, growing more of these cells in a lab, and transfusing them back into the patient. Using the stem cells from the patient’s own heart prevented the rejection problems that often occur when tissue is transplanted from another person.
The next step would be to try to figure out what, at the molecular level, causes the stem cells to change into helpful heart tissue. If we could solve this mystery, the researchers can hope to change the cardiac stem cell technique to yield even better results. But until we get there, current and future cardiac patients can hope to receive long-lasting treatments to prevent another myocardial infarction from occurring.
References:
Canada, Public Health Agency of. “Government of Canada.” Canada.ca, / Gouvernement Du Canada, 10 Feb. 2017, https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/heart-disease-canada.html.
“Discovery of 'Master Molecule' Could Improve Stem Cell Treatment for Heart Attacks - 06/20/2012.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, Based in Baltimore, Maryland, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/discovery_of_master_molecule_could_improve_stem_cell_treatment_for_heart_attacks.
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