A team of Japanese researchers has succeeded in restoring some cardiac functioning in monkeys that have suffered heart attacks by transplanting tissues grown from artificially derived stem cells of the primate, according to a study published in the British science journal Nature.
The study, dated Monday, by the team including Yuji Shiba, an associate professor at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Shinshu University, could pave the way to clinical application of the results to regeneration procedures for humans.
“Although we have to address such challenges as rejection, canceration and other side effects, we aim to realise clinical application within several years in cooperation with other research teams,” Shiba said.
Shiba’s team has grown so-called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, from skins of cynomolgus monkeys. They were then converted into cardiomyocytes, or cardiac muscle cells, and injected into the hearts of five other cynomolgus monkeys subjected to myocardial infarction.
In 12 weeks, the transplanted cells became part of their hearts and pulsative, improving the functioning of the hearts by 5 to 10 per cent, according to the study.
The team’s data show that the transplantation procedure is sufficient to regenerate the post-infarct non-human primate heart, according to the study.