BACKGROUND:  Heart disease is the No.1 killer of Americans today, responsible for 1 of every 5 deaths in 2004. There were 1,200,000 new and recurrent cases of myocardial infarction (or heart attack) per year. More importantly, about 38% of people who experience a heart attack will die from it. The options of post-infarction treatments are very limited. The extreme shortage of healthy heart donors and common immunological complications after heart transplantation make heart transplantation unfeasible. Autologous cell transplantation is a promising alternative approach, however, the success of this treatment hinges on the search for ideal sources of donor cells. Currently, two types of cells, pluripotential stem cells and skeletal myoblasts, have been considered. Skeletal myoblasts have several advantages over pluripotential stem cells, such as the ease to obtain them, resistance to the ischemic conditions and no possible tumorigenicity. Nevertheless, a major drawback of using skeletal myoblasts is that these cells are inefficient in engaging in the mechanical performance of the surrounding heart tissue, leading to arrhythmias (or abnormal heart rhythms).

INNOVATION:  Researchers at UCLA have invented a way to genetically modify skeletal myoblasts prior to cell transplantation and enable modified cells to demonstrate electrophysiological features essential for normal heart functions. This invention has resolved the deficiency of skeletal myoblasts in cardiac functions after autologous cell transplantation, and could clear a major roadblock for the medical applications of skeletal myoblasts in post-infarction treatments.

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS 

• Modifications of skeletal myoblasts prior to autologous cell transplantations in post-infarction treatments.

ADVANTAGES

• Easy to obtain skeletal myoblasts.
• No tumorigenicity and immunological complications.
• Resistant to the ischemic conditions prevailing in damaged cardiac tissue.

DEVELOPMENT-TO-DATE:  UCLA researchers have genetically engineered mouse skeletal muscles to demonstrate the electrophysiological features of human heart muscles in mice in vivo.

Related Papers (Selected)

• Poster presentation: "The Heterologous Expression of Cardiac Sodium Channels in Adult Skeletal Muscle Fibers Induces Cardiac-like Electrophysiological Features", The 51st Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD. 2007. [more]

Reference: UCLA Case No. 2008-235