In 2015, a team of inquisitive young scientists, absorbed in the study of metabolism, regeneration, and biological development, set out to answer a question. Could the way cells produce energy help explain why certain organisms have an envious ability to regenerate heart tissue after injury? And, if so, could that knowledge be used to help heal human hearts? The results of that inquiry have now been revealed in a paper that could have broad implications for regenerative medicine research, beginning with the heart.
Nearly 18 million people die each year from heart disease, making it the leading cause of death in the world. In the United States alone, the annual economic impact of heart disease exceeds $200 billion, a figure that is expected to rise dramatically. Patients with heart disease experience progressive, significant declines in quality of life marked by reduced activity and higher hospitalization rates. While lifestyle changes and medical treatments are available to slow the progression to end-stage heart failure, there are no lifestyle changes or currently approved medical treatments that have the ability to restore normal heart functioning.
At the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM), researchers in multiple labs are pursuing novel approaches that can potentially cure rather than manage heart disease. In 2018, a study led by ISCRM Director Dr. Charles Murry demonstrated that stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes have the potential to regenerate heart tissue in large non-human primates, a major step toward human clinical trials. In another investigation, ISCRM faculty members Jen Davis, PhD and Farid Moussavi-Harami, MD are developing new tools to help cardiologists design personalized treatments for certain heart diseases.
Jason Miklas, PhD, now a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, is the lead author of the long-term study, which was published this week in the journal iScience. When the effort began, Miklas was a PhD student in the lab of Hannele Ruohola-Baker, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and an Associate Director of ISCRM. His early collaborators were members of labs led by Murry, ISCRM co-founder Randy Moon, PhD, and ISCRM faculty member Rong Tian, MD, PhD.
