By Patricia Simms, Health Reporter
UW-Madison researchers are a step closer to understanding how human embryonic
stem cells can
be trained to treat heart disease.
Dr. Timothy Kamp, associate professor of medicine at UW Medical School, reported
Thursday
that embryonic stem cells - blank slates that haven't yet developed into specific
types of cells - are
capable of growing into three types of heart cells.
The findings increase the possibility that such stem cells could be developed
to replace specific
diseased parts of the human heart, he said.
"Understanding that there is potential to get these different types of
heart cells is exciting," Kamp
said. "The more we learn about these different cells in culture - how they
become different cell types,
and how we can enrich those different cell types, the closer we'll get to using
embryonic stem cells
as a source for cell therapy for various forms of heart disease."
A pacemaker grown from stem ells, for example, could eventually replace mechanical
pacemakers.
"But that's all science fiction at this time," he said.
Previous studies showed human embryonic stem cells could become adult heart
cells - Kamp's
study marked the growth into three different types of heart cells.
"Prior to this, it wasn't clear what the functional types of heart cells
were," Kamp said. "Now we've
provided evidence based on electrical measurements. It opens the window of opportunity
to say
that there are multiple cells possible. It's just another step.
Kamp said that human embryonic stem cells - unlike adult stem cells - can be
cultured indefinitely
as a renewable source of cells.
The work arose from collaboration between Kamp's laboratory and that of James
Thomson, the
UW-Madison investigator who first succeeded in isolating human embryonic stem
cells.
Kamp said any clinical applications are likely five to 10 years away.
The findings were published online in Circulation Research, a journal of the American Heart Association.