Shanghai, January 12 (Reporter Chen Jing) -- It was learned on the 12th that the latest research by Chinese medical experts has provided new ideas and strategies for the treatment of heart failure.
They proposed a strategy of combining mRNA (modified message RNA) technology with human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac progenitor cells to construct cardiac patches (active cardiac wound dressings) for the treatment of heart failure. They demonstrated that cardiac patches modified with IGF1 mRNA significantly improved graft survival and promoted the recovery of cardiac function in damaged hearts, and revealed its underlying mechanism. IGF1 refers to insulin-like growth factor 1.
The research findings of Fu Wei and Wang Wei's research team at the National Children's Medical Center and Shanghai Children's Medical Center affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine have been published in the internationally authoritative journal Materials Today Bio.
Heart failure, caused by various factors, is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. While significant progress has been made in drug therapy, interventional procedures, and surgical treatments for heart failure, the primary effective treatment for end-stage heart failure patients is heart transplantation. However, due to donor shortages and organ rejection after transplantation, the clinical application of heart transplantation is severely limited.
Tissue-engineered cardiac patch therapy is an emerging and effective treatment for heart failure. This method first involves obtaining a sufficient number of cardiomyocytes through in vitro directed differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells. These cells are then combined with biomaterials to construct a cardiac patch in vitro, which is subsequently adhered to the heart surface for repair (a cardiac wound dressing). However, improving the survival rate of transplanted cells within the "cardiac wound dressing" and enhancing the therapeutic effect remains a major challenge that urgently needs to be addressed in this field.
Chinese experts' research pretreated human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived myocardial progenitor cells with IGF1 mRNA, enabling them to secrete IGF1 protein in a pulsed, efficient, and transient manner after transplantation. This promoted the vascularization and proliferation of the graft, significantly improving the survival rate of cells in the transplant patch and thus promoting the recovery of cardiac function.
It is understood that the mRNA-enhanced cell therapy project for heart failure, conducted by Researcher Fu Wei and Professor Wang Wei's team, has been shortlisted for the finals of the first National Disruptive Technology Innovation Competition in 2024. (End)
