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Heart patient's own skin cells may soon repair damaged cardiac tissue | Thanks to a pioneering stem cell research, it may soon be possible to turn ordinary human skin cells into early-stage heart cells, claims a scientist. The new technique for reprogramming human skin cells
by Robert Schwartz, University of Houston biomedical scientist, puts him at the
forefront of a revolution in medicine that could one day lead to treatments for
Alzheimer's, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and many other diseases. Schwartz brings
his ground-breaking research to UH as the Cullen Distinguished Professor of Biology
and Biochemistry and head of UH's new Center for Gene Regulation and Molecular
Therapeutics. Schwartz devised a method for turning ordinary human skin cells
into heart cells. The cells developed are similar to embryonic stem cells and
ultimately can be made into early-stage heart cells derived from a patient's own
skin. These then could be implanted and grown into fully developed beating heart
cells, reversing the damage caused by previous heart attacks. These new cells
would replace the damaged cardiac tissue that weakens the heart's ability to pump,
develops into scar tissue and causes arrhythmias. Early clinical trials using
these reprogrammed cells on actual heart patients could begin within one or two
years. Schwartz's method requires fewer steps and yields more stem cells. Armed
with an effective way to make induced stem cells from a patient's own skin, scientists
can then begin the work of growing all kinds of human cells. |
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