New grant for stem cell therapy in cardiovascular disease

A new MRC grant of over £290,000 has been awarded to Paolo Madeddu, Professor of Experimental Cardiovascluar Medicine in the Bristol Heart Institute, to study stem cells in patients with cardiovascular disease.
The transplantation of patient’s own stem cells to regenerate damaged tissues including dead heart muscle is a promising yet challenging new approach.  A new MRC grant of over £290,000 has been awarded to study stem cells in patients with cardiovascular disease.

So far “plain” or “sorted” cells have been used for cardiac repair.  Both methods have disadvantages, as plain cells may contain curative as well as neutral or even hurtful cells, while mechanical sorting can increase purity at the cost of damage to the cells.  The new MRC project led by Paolo Madeddu, Professor of Experimental Cardiovascluar Medicine in the Bristol Heart Institute at the University of Bristol, proposes to improve the strategy by selecting stem cells from patients with dead heart muscle based on the stem cells ability to migrate toward a chemical agent, which help in vivo homing.

This new function-based enrichment will be validated against commercially available separation kits in a model based on heart attacks in mice.  Results could open a new way for second-generation stem cell therapy of myocardial ischemia, also known as angina.

Professor Madeddu, commenting on the grant award, said: “Patients with risk factors and cardiovascular disease have a shortage of stem cells and their stem cells are of poor quality.

“The proposed selection method will hopefully overcome these liabilities by separating cells instrumental to heart healing from dysfunctional cells.  If the study confirms our hypothesis, patients with a heart attack will obtain better results from receiving a selection of their best stem cells.”

A heart attack happens when vessels of the heart become blocked, interrupting the flow of blood to the heart and causing a part of the heart to “infarct” or become dead heart muscle.