Main Category: Vascular Also Included In: Urology / Nephrology; Stem Cell Research Article Date: 26 Aug 2013 – 1:00 PDT
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form. Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:
García-Cardena’s team, which included Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences graduate student William Adams, found that the iPS-derived human endothelial cells display three critical functions carried out by mature endothelium in the body: mounting inflammatory responses, keeping blood from leaking out of the blood vessel, and preventing blood clots.
In a scientific first, Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have successfully grown the cells that line the blood vessels – called vascular endothelial cells – from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), revealing new details about how these cells function. Using a unique approach, the researchers induced the differentiation of specific cell types by generating mechanical forces on the surface of the iPSC-derived endothelium mimicking the flow of blood. For example, cells that felt a stronger “flow” became artery cells, while those that felt a weaker “flow” became vein cells.
Current ratings for: Researchers create cells that line blood vessels
Based on this information, García-Cardena’s work, published this month in the journal Stem Cell Reports, has another exciting implication – it could potentially reduce, or even eliminate the need for heparin use during kidney dialysis and lung failure treatment – making both markedly safer.
Harvard University
vascular section for the latest news on this subject.
If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.
Traditionally, patients undergoing dialysis are treated with heparin, a powerful drug, which prevents the blood from clotting as it’s routed through the dialysis machine. While heparin is quite effective in preventing clotting, because it considerably thins the blood, it can also cause loss of blood, internal bleeding, and interfere with the healing process.
Contact Our News Editors
MLA
University, Harvard. “Researchers create cells that line blood vessels.”Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 26 Aug. 2013. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/265199.php>
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
“It was especially exciting to us to discover that these cells are basically responding to biomechanical cues,” research leader Guillermo García-Cardena, PhD, an HSCI Affiliated Faculty member, said. “By exposing cells to ‘atheroprone flow,’ we can direct differentiation of these cells into cells that are present in areas of the circulatory system that we know are affected by diseases like atherosclerosis.” García-Cardena is now working on modeling the formation of arterial plaques using human iPSC-derived vascular endothelial cells and identifying potential drugs that might prevent plaque formation.
All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam). We reserve the right to amend opinions where we deem necessary.
“The iPSC-derived endothelial cells cells beautifully function as an anticoagulant surface,” said García-Cardena, an Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “In the future, we may take a tissue sample from a patient, generate iPSCs, and then cover an extracorporeal device with the patient’s own endothelial cells – so the patient can go home with the device without the need for regular heparin shots.”
Research Cited: Functional Vascular Endothelium Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.
The National Institutes of Health funded this research.
If you are a possible stem cell patient, find ways to get a stem cell cure to have much better health and youthfulness
If you're a medical doctor and would like to learn and incorporate various stem cell treatments into your medical practice, be sure to get the proper stem cell medical training
