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Gene Helps Guide Embryonic Heart Formation
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THURSDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- A gene called Sox17 plays a critical role in the development of embryonic stem cells into beating heart muscle cells, U.S. researchers report. The finding may help in efforts to use embryonic stem cells to generate heart muscle in order to repair damage caused by heart attacks and chronic heart failure. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, found that Sox17 is essential for the transformation of mesoderm (an early layer of tissue in the embryo) into more specialized cardiac mesoderm from which heart muscle develops. "Heart muscle formation by embryonic stem cells is a complex, multi-step process. We have succeeded in uncoupling the formation of cardiac mesoderm from its antecedent steps. That discovery provides immediate insight into how one might seek to generate cardiac muscle more effectively from embryonic stem cells," study senior researcher Dr. Michael Schneider said in a prepared statement. "One of the major challenges is the very meager ability of the heart muscle to restore itself after cell death," said Schneider, professor of medicine, molecular and cellular biology, and molecular physiology and biophysics. "Identifying stem cells that can be encouraged along the path to becoming heart muscle is a paramount scientific goal." The study was published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. More information The American Heart Association has more about heart attack.
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