Create heart cells who first respond to light

In the small lab space of Stanford University, PhD, medical doctor Oscar Abilez trained a microscope to collect cells on a petri dish. A video player plays back what the microscope sees on the screen nearby.

The cells on this petri dish beat smoothly, about 1 time per second. These cells are cardiomyocyte myocardial cells , which regulate the function of regulating the heart rate and creating the force for the human heart. They are programmed to be beats. They will beat this way until they die.

Researchers have created the first heart cells that can respond to light. (Source: sciencedaily.com)

Abilez raised a finger as if to say 'Wait a minute' and reached for a small lever hidden behind the microscope. Also with this finger, he turned on the lever. A light blue light drove into the petri dish. Abilez turned this light off, at first quickly then slowed down. Each time his finger is lifted up, the heart cells shrink to coordinate with the light.

In an article published in the American Journal of Biology - Physics, Abilez described how to create the first human heart cell that can coordinate with light using a technology called optogenetics .

The researchers say this progress will bring new insight into heart function. However, in the long run, this development can lead to an age of light-regulating pacemakers and genetically appropriate tissue fragments that can alter damaged muscles due to seizures. heart attack.

To create the heart cells that respond to this light, the researchers initially inserted DNA encoding a type of light-sensitive protein called channelrhodopsin-2 or ChR2 into human embryonic stem cells. ChR2 controls the charged ion flow into human embryonic stem cells. For heart cells, ions are primarily sodium, which initiates an electrochemical stage that causes the cell to contract. They then turned these stem cells into muscle cells cardiomyocyte unlike other cells - these cells responded to light.

Like this new heart cell, technology optogenetics is a product of Stanford University. Dr. Karl Deisseroth, a medical doctor, has played a key role in developing this technology. It is an increasingly popular research technique, allowing researchers to create mammalian tissues that respond to light.

Abilez was the first to create human heart cells with optogenetics technology.

Researchers tested their new cells with a human heart model on a computer, injecting light-sensitive cells into various locations in the heart and projecting a virtual blue light on them to observe. See how these injected cells affect contraction as it moves through the heart.

'In the real heart, these pacemaker cells are located at the top of the heart and the heart goes up and down and around,' explained Professor Ellen Kuhl. 'With these models, we can show that, not only to regulate cells with new light, but where the best cells can be injected create this kind of optimal response.'

The study authors conclude that, apart from heart, optogenetics technology can also bring many improvements to many other diseases such as neurological, musculoskeletal, pancreatic and heart disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, tongue cramps, paralysis, diabetes, aches and pains and arrhythmias.

This study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.