Project Brief
Tissue Engineering (October 1997)Cardiac Muscle Regeneration Using Mesenchymal Stem CellsDemonstrate that mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow can differentiate into cardiac muscle and restore function to damaged heart tissue, potentially enabling a significant new cell-replacement therapy for heart patients. Coronary disease is the number one killer in the United States and costs the economy over $150 billion annually. Sponsor: Osiris Therapeutics, Inc2001 Aliceanna StreetBaltimore, MD 21231
Heart disease is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. More than 300,000 Americans die annually from congestive heart failure, usually within five years of diagnosis, because cardiac muscle has little or no capacity for self-repair and current treatments are often inadequate. A possible new therapy is suggested by studies of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), multipotent precursor cells that differentiate into various tissues, including bone, cartilage, tendon, bone marrow stroma, adipose, and skeletal muscle. Osiris Therapeutics and its colleagues at Johns Hopkins University propose to prove that mesenchymal stem cells also can differentiate in the body into cardiac muscle and restore function to damaged heart tissue. MSCs will be harvested from bone marrow, cultured with various media and agents, and implanted within normal and damaged heart tissue in animals. In contrast to typical tissue engineering projects, the entire muscle-formation process will take place within the body. It is believed that biological, electrical, or mechanical triggers in the host environment may be critical in establishing fully integrated and functional tissue. The fate of the MSCs will be determined in both normal and damaged cardiac muscle of animal models for human heart conditions. The technical challenges are to identify culture conditions, growth factors, or other agents that induce stem cell maturation into cardiac muscle; prove that this process occurs within the body; and demonstrate that function can be restored to damaged heart muscle. Protocols for cell therapy will be established. If successful, the project could help reduce medical costs, improve the well being of patients with heart conditions, and provide a partial solution to the chronic shortage of donor hearts for transplants. The U.S. market for the proposed technology is estimated to be as much as $2 billion.
|
|
ATP website comments: webmaster-atp@nist.gov
Privacy Statement / Security Notice • NIST Disclaimer • NIST Information Quality Standards NIST is an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department |