Back in April, Bruce Conklin visted us to discuss stem cells, specifically using iPS cells to be grown into mature adult heart cells to screen drugs. One of the steps in this approach is discovering the specific cardiac cells that are “masters” i.e. the cardiac stem cells.

Scientists this week announced the discovery of a set of cardiac stem cells that express a protein, Islet 1, that give rise to other heart cells. The scientists were able to generate these cardiac master cells from human embryonic stem cells, then isolated the Islet 1 containing cells. These cells were then grown into many various heart cells, from muscles to lining cells.

The hope? A plug and play system for re-growing heart tissue. Scaffolding for repair could be built from the patients own cells, essentially repairing any damaged areas.

Of course, there is a lot of work to be done before this becomes a reality….including reproducing this early work. Many scientists caution that this protein while important, may not necessarily be key in the process as well. In any case, this is another huge step forward in the battle against heart disease this week (the first being calorie disclosure being required at California Fast Food chains.)

More Info:
Science article on Heart Stem Cell Discovery

The short term promise of these iPSC is in drug development. Specifically, growing these iPSCs into adult mature cells to test new drugs upon. For mature human cells, often testing on mice or other animals proves ineffective (or at least an incomplete picture). This advancement could fundamentally change the entire drug development process.