Scar Tissue Turned Into Heart Muscle Without Using Stem Cells

Daniel Grichevsky

The article “Scar Tissue Turned Into Heart Muscle Without Using Stem Cells” is about scientists at Duke University Medical Center that found a way to turn scar tissue that forms after a heart attack into heart muscle cells without the need for stem cell transplant. The scientists used microRNAs to start the cardiac tissue conversion for the first time in a living mouse. MicroRNAs were put into the scar tissue cells called fibroblasts. Fibroblasts impair the hearts ability to pump blood. MicroRNAs reprogrammed fibroblasts to become cells that were close to the cardiomyocytes or cells that make up heart muscle. This breakthrough created a simpler process for tissue regeneration. Scientists are going to test larger animals and eventually humans. If these tests work in humans, then it could save countless lives from heart failure because of the scar tissue that develops after a heart attack. This may be used for other parts of the body as well. MicroRNAs remove the complications that occur with stem cell therapy like genetic alterations and ethical dilemmas posed by stem cells.

This article is related to our unit of study because it talks about the circulatory system and homeostatic imbalance in the human body. In the article, it talks about the heart and the tissues that make up the heart. In class, we talked about the different tissues in the body and the cells that make them up. This article explained a way to convert the scar tissue with different cells into the heart muscle cells. In the notes, we also talked about parts of the heart that are more muscular because they need to pump blood great distances. The scar tissue that forms after a heart attack makes the muscle weaker, which ultimately can result in heart failure. In class, we also talked about homeostasis and this scar tissue creates a homeostatic imbalance in the body because it deprives the heart from functioning normally, which is to pump blood away from it.

Duke University Medical Center. "Scar tissue turned into heart muscle without using stem cells."

ScienceDaily, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120426174110.htm#