In vitro grafts increase blood flow in infarcted rat hearts

High blood pressure, blood clots, and heart attacks can kill off precious heart cells vital to avoiding further heart failure. Stem cells can aid in healing the body and heart in such instances, though only to a relatively small amount, leaving the heart damaged and vulnerable.

However, researchers at the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) have just brought us one step closer to achieving a full heart muscle recovery. Cardiology Professor and Pathologist Chuck Murry, along with Ying Zheng, co-authored and published a paper early February reporting success in creating functional blood vessels in vitro for hearts of rats who had a heart attack. By combining advanced tissue engineering, stem cell biology, and ex vivo intact heart imaging techniques, the team was able to monitor and analyze the anastomosis and host integration of the infarcted heart.

“To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that building organized blood vessels with perfusion outside the body leads to improved integration with host blood vessels and better tissue blood flow,” said Zheng, an associate professor of bioengineering here at UW. The team used human stem cells to create a vascularized construct with a network of blood vessels mimicking the vasculature that of a human, allowing for an effective integration of the patch and improved blood flow, ultimately leading providing the cells with the proper nutrients to survive.

For the full story on the paper, visit UW Medicine’s Newsroom. Follow this link for the published paper itself.