An Anglo-Israeli collaboration to develop stem cell treatments for heart failure

Gene targeted optogenetics in hPSC-cardiovascular cells for transplantation into animal models of heart dysfunction (Joint funding with BIRAX)

In this project, Professor Chris Denning from the University of Nottingham and Professor Lior Gepstein, based at Technion in Israel, will work together to develop stem cell treatments to regenerate damaged heart muscle. The usual cause of heart muscle damage is a heart attack. BHF-funded research has helped improve survival rates from a heart attack so that around seven in ten people survive. But the irreparable damage caused to the heart tissue after a heart attack can cause heart failure, which affects hundreds of thousands of people in the UK. Heart failure can be treated, but the only cure is a heart transplant. The shortage of donor hearts mean a transplant is only possible for a few people. One of the most promising potential treatments for heart failure is to grow new heart muscle that can be transplanted into the damaged heart and improve its pumping power. Professor Denning and his team are experts in growing heart muscle cells from stem cells. For some time Professor Denning’s team has competed with Professor Gepstein’s group, but now they will work together and share expertise and resources towards the shared goal of regenerating the heart after a heart attack. The researchers are looking at a different way to grow heart cells from stem cells that could mean they are more likely to survive and work better after grafting onto the heart. They will explore growing human stem cells that contain special proteins that function in response to light. The researchers are exploring the development of a pacemaker, which controls heart rhythm using light rather than an electrical impulse. In this case blue light causes electrical activity in the cell and yellow light stops it. This approach could be used to prevent heart rhythm problems in grafted heart tissue produced from stem cells, which is a major hurdle in using stem cells to mend broken hearts. Finally they hope to trial the results of the first two aspects in animal models so they can assess whether the techniques work in a living organism. This is a vital step before testing in patients can begin.