Scientists have converted adult skin cells directly into beating heart cells efficiently without having to first go through the laborious process of generating embryonic-like stem cells. The powerful general technology platform could lead to new treatments for a range of diseases and injuries involving cell loss or damage, such as heart disease, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The work was published January 30, 2011, in an advance, online issue of Nature Cell Biology.
The advantages of producing heart cells directly from skin cells while circumventing the normal route of reprogramming them first into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) include:
* saving the 2 to 4 weeks needed for the iPS reprogramming step
* saving 2 to 4 weeks needed to convert the iPS cells into heart cells
* avoiding the chance that undifferentiated iPS cells remain with the potential of becoming cancerous later on
* going from skin cells to beating heart cells in a dish in just 11 days
For more information on this research feel free to contact coordinator@nthrys.com
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