Dallas - Could the human heart really regenerate its damage and cure itself? Well, not yet. But researchers working with mice have found that a portion of their hearts removed right after birth can grow right back as if nothing happened to it.
Research has already demonstrated that some lower organisms like fish and amphibians are able to regrow their fins and tails, along with parts of their hearts after injury. But now, the Times of India says experiments on the hearts of mice show that if a portion of 15% of their hearts is removed in the first week of life, it will be repaired by the mouse in three weeks. And this new heart will function and look just like a normal one would.
Hesham Sadek, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and senior author of the study that appeared in the journal Science says,
"This is an important step in our search for a cure for heart disease, the number one killer in the developed world. We found that the hearts of newborn mammals can fix itself; it just forgets how as it gets older. The challenge now is to find a way to remind the adult heart how to fix itself again."
Sadek says the hearts of adult mammals do not have the skill to regrow lost or damaged tissue, so right now, when the heart is injured, by let's say a heart attack, it gets very weak, and heart failure results.
The scientists believe it is the uninjured beating heart cells, called cardiomyocytes, which provide the new cells. The way it works is that they skip a beat, just long enough to divide and create new cardiomyocytes.
The Guardian.co.UK reports that Eric Olson, chairman of molecular biology at Texas Southwestern Medical Center and co-senior author of the study, is looking forward to further research on this.
"Now that we know that the mammalian heart indeed possesses the potential to regenerate, at least early in life, we can begin to search for drugs or genes or other things that might reawaken this potential in the adult heart of mice and eventually of humans. The inability of the adult heart to regenerate following injury represents a major barrier in cardiovascular medicine."
Researchers say that next they will study this short time slot that mammalians possess to regenerate their hearts to find out how and why the heart loses this incredible ability as it gets older.
Research has already demonstrated that some lower organisms like fish and amphibians are able to regrow their fins and tails, along with parts of their hearts after injury. But now, the Times of India says experiments on the hearts of mice show that if a portion of 15% of their hearts is removed in the first week of life, it will be repaired by the mouse in three weeks. And this new heart will function and look just like a normal one would.
Hesham Sadek, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and senior author of the study that appeared in the journal Science says,
"This is an important step in our search for a cure for heart disease, the number one killer in the developed world. We found that the hearts of newborn mammals can fix itself; it just forgets how as it gets older. The challenge now is to find a way to remind the adult heart how to fix itself again."
Sadek says the hearts of adult mammals do not have the skill to regrow lost or damaged tissue, so right now, when the heart is injured, by let's say a heart attack, it gets very weak, and heart failure results.
The scientists believe it is the uninjured beating heart cells, called cardiomyocytes, which provide the new cells. The way it works is that they skip a beat, just long enough to divide and create new cardiomyocytes.
The Guardian.co.UK reports that Eric Olson, chairman of molecular biology at Texas Southwestern Medical Center and co-senior author of the study, is looking forward to further research on this.
"Now that we know that the mammalian heart indeed possesses the potential to regenerate, at least early in life, we can begin to search for drugs or genes or other things that might reawaken this potential in the adult heart of mice and eventually of humans. The inability of the adult heart to regenerate following injury represents a major barrier in cardiovascular medicine."
Researchers say that next they will study this short time slot that mammalians possess to regenerate their hearts to find out how and why the heart loses this incredible ability as it gets older.
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