Stem Cell Research and its Effects on Cardiovascular Diseases
Introduction:
Stem cells have the remarkable potential to renew themselves. They can develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. They have the ability to self-renew and to create functional tissues. Different types of stem cells have varying degrees of potency; that is, the number of different cell types that they can form. While differentiating, the cell usually goes through several stages, becoming more specialized at each step. Scientists are beginning to understand the signals that trigger each step of the differentiation process. Signals for cell differentiation include factors secreted by other cells, physical contact with neighboring cells, and certain molecules in the microenvironment.
Origin of Stem Cells
Stem cells can come from various places such as the bone marrow of an adult or from the embryo as embryonic stem cells. Depending on where the stem cells are, they can develop into different tissues. Embryonic stem cells are the most versatile since they can develop into all the cells of a developing fetus. The majority of stem cells in the body have a harder time giving rise to new cells for different organs and may only help maintain the function and the tissues of the organ they came from.
Stem Cell Retrieval
Blood Stem Cells - Blood stem cells are taken out through a process called apheresis. Blood is taken from the vein of a donor and circulated through a machine that removes the stem cells and returns the remaining blood and plasma back to the donor.
Bone Marrow Stem Cells - Bone marrow stem cells are harvested from the donor in the operating room. Stem cells are collected from the marrow of the bone through a needle.
Cord Blood Stem Cells - Once a woman gives birth stem cells are collected from the baby’s umbilical cord after it gets cut. A physician collects blood from the cord and the placenta after the baby is born and it gets stored in cord blood banks. After tissue matching is performed the stem cells are ready to donate to the patient.
Use in Biomedical Research and Cardiovascular Disease
Given their unique regenerative abilities, there are many ways in which human stem cells are being used in biomedical research and therapeutic development. Scientists can use stem cells to learn about human biology and for the development of therapeutics. A better understanding of the genetic and molecular signals that regulate cell division, specialization, and differentiation in stem cells can give more information about how diseases arise and suggest new strategies for therapy.
For more than 5 decades, cardiovascular medicine has advanced through a combination of diverse scientific and technical concepts. Various strategies for prediction, prevention, intervention, molecular genetics, and regeneration have been tested for clinical relevance and application by various clinical trial techniques. Stem cells have been an ongoing research project to help cardiovascular disease. Trophic mediators secreted by stem cells have recently been proven to improve cardiac function through various mechanisms such as attenuating tissue injury, inhibiting fibrotic remodeling, promoting angiogenesis, mobilizing host tissue stem cells, and reducing inflammation. The Lancet published a study where, “researchers treated 17 heart attack patients with an infusion of stem cells taken from their hearts. A year after the procedure, the amount of scar tissue had shrunk by about 50%,” according to Harvard Medical School.
Risks and Limitations
Stem cell research is a fairly new concept and in-depth comprehensive research is still underway. Researchers are still exploring how stem cells can regenerate damaged heart tissue, but the mechanisms are still not fully understood. If stem cells are taken from an unrelated donor, the body’s immune system may reject them which can lead to organ failure. Specifically with cardiovascular disease if the injected stem cells aren’t able to communicate with the heart’s finely tuned electrical system it can result in arrhythmias. This can cause a series of serious complications which may even lead to the death of the patient. There is also a risk that specifically embryonic stem cells can cause tumors in the heart. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning that they can differentiate into any cell type. However, this pluripotency also makes them prone to uncontrolled growth if not properly regulated. This leads to the formation of tumors known as teratomas. Studies in animals have shown that injected embryonic stem cells can sometimes result in teratoma formation if differentiation is incomplete or the cells proliferate uncontrollably.
Conclusion:
While extensive research has not been conducted on the use of stem cells in heart disease it is a good starting point. The innovations of stem cells will only continue from here and may even be able to cure diseases that were once thought of as incurable. Heart disease can now have various solutions except the ones such as heart transplants, open heart surgery, and catheters.
Works Cited
Harvard Medical School. "Repairing the heart with stem cells." Harvard Health Publishing, 1 Mar. 2013, www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/repairing-the-heart-with-stem-cells. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.
Harvard Stem Cell Institute. "Heart Disease." Harvard Stem Cell Institute, hsci.harvard.edu/heart-disease-0. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.
Mayo Clinic. "Cardiac Regeneration." Mayo Clinic, www.mayo.edu/research/centers-programs/center-regenerative-biotherapeutics/focus-areas/cardiac-regeneration. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.
Hentze, Hannah, et al. "Teratoma formation by human embryonic stem cells: evaluation of essential parameters for future safety studies." National Institute of Health, 2 May 2009, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19393593/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.