Scientists find new window into the heart
Scientists we fund in Edinburgh have
developed a new tracking technique which could benefit future stem
cell treatments for people suffering from heart
failure.
Heart
failure affects more than 750,000 people in
the UK. The condition can leave patients fighting for
breath and unable to do even simple tasks like making a cup of tea.
Scientists want to find a way to
repair the heart muscle of patients with
heart failure. By injecting stem
cellsinto
patients scientists hope to help their hearts beat strongly
again. But they have no way of seeing where the injected
cells end up in the heart.
A Sat Nav for cells
Scientists at our
Centre of Research Excellence at the University of Edinburgh
may have found an answer. They discovered that by labelling immune
cells with tiny iron filings they can track their
movements using a powerful
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner.
The MRI scanner works much like a Sat Nav by mapping the magnetic cells as they move through the body
If
stem
cells behave like immune cells when carrying the
tiny magnetic particles, researchers think they
could also
follow their journey to damaged areas
of the heart.
Our Research Advisor Dr Hélène Wilson,
said:
“The MRI scanner works much like a Sat
Nav by mapping the magnetic cells as they move through the
body.”
“Scientists have shown the MRI scanner can
track labelled immune cells as they move in the
bloodstream, but it is important to find out whether it can do the
same with injected stem cells. If successful, this opens exciting
new avenues to stem cell treatments for patients
with heart disease”
Mending Broken Hearts
Our Mending
Broken Hearts Appeal funds pioneering research like this into
stem cell therapies and other new ways to repair the heart. We aim
to literally ‘mend broken hearts’ by supporting
ground-breaking research to cure heart
failure.
The findings were published in the
journal Circulation: Cardiovascular
Imaging.