NURTURE, Nottingham

Evaluation of cardio myocytes derived from embryonic stem cells as a means to characterise receptor/channel expression in human tissue (R0141)

 Licence holder: Professor Bruce Campbell

Lay summary:

Embryonic stem cells can be formed from blastocyst-stage embryos and have the ability to form any cell of the body e.g. nerve cells, heart muscle, and liver. Recent breakthroughs in stem cell technology has increased the possibility of producing cells that could be used to treat many types of degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, muscular dystrophy and liver failure.
Additionally human stem cells could be potentially used for
?    Research on the mechanisms controlling the transformation of embryonic stem cells into different cell types, e.g. heart muscle cells (known as cardiomyocytes).
?    Screening new drugs to determine their therapeutic value and potential toxicity

Human stem cells can form heart muscle cells that can be observed to contract (beat) in the culture dish. This is controlled by receptors for compounds such as adrenalin. Any changes in the pathways for these receptors are associated with severe cardiovascular disease. These receptors also control the activity of smooth muscle cells including those in the airways of the lung where contraction (spasm) leads to asthma. The current project focuses on receptor systems in heart and smooth muscle cells formed from stem cells to assess whether these cells behave normally.

The current work aims to:
?    Establish reliable systems to induce stem cells to form cardiomyocytes and smooth muscle cells.
?    Demonstrate that stem cell derived muscle cells behave in a normal way.

The normality of cells derived from stem cells is critically important in order to assess their value either as a way to directly treat patients with serious diseases or as a tool to conduct research on ways to treat serious disease.