Investigating arrhythmogenic risk from cardiac cell therapy; scrutinising the effects of human myofibroblasts on iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte function (Mr Robert Johnson)
Stem cells show great promise for repairing scarred heart tissue after a heart attack. One option for future therapies is to transplant new heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) that have been made from stem cells, onto the damaged area. For this to be effective and safe it is important that the transplanted cells work in tandem with the patient's own heart. Heart scars are rich in cells called myofibroblasts, so it is important to assess how the transplanted cells get on when in contact with myofibroblasts. In particular, it is vital that stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes can contract in response to electrical activity, and that they spread the electrical current across the heart in a synchronised way. If they don’t do this, transplanting cells onto a scar could cause life-threatening irregular heart rhythms. Dr Camelliti and her colleagues have developed a way to simulate the heart scar environment in a dish, by growing human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and myofibroblasts together. With this funding, they will use a high-tech microscope and other methods to study how the cells interact. They will examine the effect of these interactions on the stem cell-derived cells, in particular how they handle electrical activity. The results from this work could spotlight ways in which we can improve the effectiveness and safety of emerging stem cell therapies for heart attack.
Project details
| Grant amount | £122,464 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | PhD Studentship |
| Start Date | 02 October 2017 |
| Duration | 3 years, 3 months |
| Reference | FS/17/33/32931 |
| Status | In Progress |
