Russian researchers report new method for producing heart cells from stem cells

Russia's Ministry of Science and Higher Education announced that researchers at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Moscow Regional Clinical Research Institute have developed a new method for producing cardiac muscle cells from mesenchymal stem cells. The findings were published in the journal Biomedicine. The study focused on regenerative medicine, which seeks to repair damaged or diseased tissue through cell transplantation or by using stem cells capable of transforming into different cell types. The team used mesenchymal stem cells, which under normal conditions can develop into bone, cartilage or fat tissue. The cells were obtained from 1 to 2 gram samples of red bone marrow taken from patients during open-heart surgery when the chest cavity was opened. The researchers placed these cells in a culture medium traditionally used to generate cardiac muscle cells. As the two cell types grew together, their calcium level fluctuations moved in sync, indicating the cells had begun working together in a manner resembling heart tissue. The scientists said that while mesenchymal stem cells do not complete the transformation into cardiac cells, they could become an important tool in research on heart disease and regenerative medicine.