Scientists have made breakthrough related to human heart development using stem cells. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and the Gladstone Institute performed the research, which has just been published in the Journal of Nature Communications.

They have managed to develop a template for growing cardiac tissue from stem cells. Growing cardiac cells in this way will give researchers the ability to test the affect of various drugs on heart muscle cells.  To develop the heart muscle tissue, researchers had to use various biochemical and biophysical cues to inform the stem cells how they should differentiate. 

Co-senior author of the paper, Dr Kevin Healy, says that this technique allows researchers to view a developing human heart in vitro for the first time. It will be particularly useful to have a developing heart for testing drugs that are given to pregnant women, to ensure they do not impact the heart of their developing child.

To test the ability of the stem-cell derived tissue to test drugs properly, they exposed it to thalidomide, a drug known to cause severe birth defects. They immediately saw various problems with the heart tissue including chambers with decreased size, slower beat rates and issues with heart muscle contraction.

Scientists estimate that each year as many as 280,000 pregnant women in the United States are exposed to potentially harmful drugs that may hurt their unborn baby. Heart muscle defects are one of the most common forms of birth defects.

To create the heart muscle tissue, researchers genetically reprogrammed stem cells from adult skin tissue to form beating human heart cells. Before the stem cells differentiated, they were placed in a circular pattern, so they had a physical cue informing them on how to change. Researchers believe that human heart development using stem cells will save the lives of thousands of unborn children.

Source: Researchers Create Model of Early Human Heart Development from Stem Cells

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